I

ndonesia should protect its mangrove forests since they can store a greater amount of carbon than other tropical trees, experts say.

Daniel Murdiyarso, a senior researcher from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), said on Monday that Indonesia’s climate change mitigation programs would be futile without conserving the nation’s 3 million hectares of mangrove forests, which comprise 23 percent of the world’s total.

“It is the largest share of mangroves on earth,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a three-day workshop for journalists on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)-Plus programs that ended on Monday.

According to Daniel, researchers have shown that mangrove forests could store five or six times the amount of carbon than other tropical forests.

Stephen Crooks, a climate change expert from US-based environmental consulting firm ESA PWA, said drained coastal wetlands or mangroves might account for the release up to 500 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

“[They] may account 10 percent [of emissions from] all forests that have been cut down around the world. It is equivalent to the amount of [carbon dioxide] released by Mexico or the state of California,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Despite a huge potential to store carbon, the size of mangrove forests continues to decrease as hectare after hectare of mangrove trees are cleared for aquaculture or other economic purposes.

“Right now, we are chopping down a lot of mangrove. The carbon emissions being released will increase over time,” Crooks said.

The rate of deforestation for Indonesia’s mangrove forests has reached about 7 percent per year, according to reports.

The destruction and degradation of mangrove ecosystems may produce up to 10 percent of global emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, although mangrove forests account for only 0.7 percent of all tropical forests.

Kalimantan lost about 8 percent of its mangrove forests a year between 2000 and 2005.

Typically located in highly populated coastal areas, mangrove forests have been threatened by massive land conversions for aquaculture and infrastructure development.

Apart from their potential to store carbon, mangroves also protect coastal areas from abrasion caused by ocean waves.

Climate change may cause sea levels to rise by 18 to 79 centimeters this century – and potentially much higher if melting polar ice accelerates due to global warming.

“It is an important thing to think about due to the fact that coastline in Indonesia reaches 55,000 kilometers, making it the country with the longest coastlines in the world after Canada,” Daniel said, adding coastal areas with mangrove forests suffered less destruction during the 2004 Aceh tsunami than did areas with no mangroves.

According to Daniel, mangrove forests were important for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

“Mangroves should have adequate protection as has been given to tropical peatlands,” said Daniel.

He said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should keep his pledge for Indonesia to change its status from “a net emitter” to “a net sink” for carbon by 2030.