Investigating the Effects of the Philippine

Mangrove Blue Carbon Ecosystem

on Climate Change

RHEA C. CRISOLO

JENNICA P. VILLA
 Investigating the Effects of the Philippine Mangrove Blue Carbon Ecosystem on

Climate Change

ABSTRACT
Mangrove blue carbon is as important as another ecosystem in terms of fighting

against climate change. Mangrove is important as it shelters different marine species

and has a symbiotic relationship with the marine ecosystem. Mangrove holds the largest

amount of stored carbon. The study aims to identify the relationship of mangrove blue

carbon on climate change, the importance of blue carbon in mitigating the impacts of

climate change, and identifying the actions or management programs used in climate

change mitigation through the enhancement of the blue carbon ecosystem. The study

employed a quantitative descriptive research methodology to gather the necessary data

to support the study. The findings of the study indicated that blue carbon significantly

impacts climate change. In addition to helping to lessen the consequences of climate

change, mangrove blue carbon also enhances the habitats of several marine creatures

and the health of coastal communities. Furthermore, the disruption of the blue carbon

ecosystem will cause the release of carbons that have been buried for a thousand years

and will destroy various ecosystems, hastening climate change. The study's findings

also demonstrate the potential for mangrove restoration to produce the maximum

amount of blue carbon. The present study provided background information on how

mangrove blue carbon enhancement can increase the chance of mitigating the impacts

of climate change.

Keyword: blue carbon, climate change, blue carbon ecosystem, restoration.

 INTRODUCTION

Blue carbon is any carbon dioxide that enters the ocean after being absorbed

from the atmosphere. The color "blue" alludes to how wet this storage is. Blue carbon is

primarily composed of carbon dioxide that has dissolved into the water. Much smaller

amounts are held in carbon-containing molecules like DNA and proteins, underwater

sediments, coastal vegetation, soils, and marine life like whales and phytoplankton.

Carbon that is stored in the vegetation and soil of mangroves, salt marshes, and

seagrasses is known as the coastal blue carbon ecosystem. Flowering plants that thrive

in saline maritime settings make up seagrass beds. Mangroves are trees, bushes, or

palms that primarily flourish in coastal marshes that are vulnerable to salt water

inundation during high tide. Dense patches of salt-tolerant grasses, herbs, and/or

shrubs that grow between land and open salt water are known as salt marshes. The

preservation and restoration of blue-carbon ecosystems also have positive effects on

local economies, water quality, biodiversity, and storm surge protection (Scott & Lindsey,

2022).

Global Climate change is not a future issue. Increased human emissions of heat-

trapping greenhouse gases are changing Earth's climate, which is already having a

significant impact on the environment. Sea ice loss, rapid sea level rise, and longer,

more intense heat waves are just a few of the effects of global climate change that

scientists have long anticipated will happen. Some events due to climate change are

occurring faster than the scientist previously assessed. Scientists are very confident that

the rise in global temperatures, which is mostly caused by greenhouse gases produced

by human activity, will last for many decades (Jackson, 2023).

 The bigger picture of blue carbon is one of coastal habitat conservation. When

these systems are damaged, an enormous amount of carbon is emitted back into the

atmosphere, which can then contribute to climate change. So protecting and restoring

coastal habitats is a good way to reduce climate change. Despite their importance,

coastal blue carbon ecosystems are some of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth.

They are being degraded or destroyed at four times the rate of tropical forests and

climate change threatens to accelerate these losses. Mangrove forest exploitation,

urban and industrial coastal development, pollution, and pressures from agriculture and

aquaculture are some of the common causes of coastal ecosystem degradation. Due to

their high carbon content, blue carbon ecosystems can turn into significant sources of

greenhouse gas emissions when degraded or lost. The ongoing carbon losses from

blue carbon ecosystems are estimated to account for up to 19 percent of emissions

from global deforestation (Nationaloceanicandatmosphericadministration.org Website,

2023)

Statement of the Problem

The study is centered on Investigating the effects of Blue Carbon on Climate

Change particularly in the Philippines. Specifically, the study aims to answer the

following question:

1. What is the relation of the mangrove blue carbon ecosystem in climate change?

2. How important is the blue carbon ecosystem in mitigating the effects of climate

change?

3. What mitigation plan to lessen the climate change impact through enhancing blue

carbon is used?
Justification

Blue carbon ecosystems are crucial for human well-being, the preservation of

land and marine biodiversity, and the fight against the climate disaster. Carbon dioxide

is captured by blue carbon ecosystems, which then store it in their soil, leaves,

branches, and roots. Blue carbon ecosystems contribute to the fight against climate

change by eliminating carbon from the atmosphere. In addition to mitigating climate

change, blue carbon ecosystems also provide crucial habitat for marine life and save

coastal communities from its negative effects, such as rising sea levels and floods.

Objectives

The study on “Investigating the Effects of the Philippine Mangrove Blue Carbon

Ecosystem on Climate Change” has the objective of identifying the relationship between

the mangrove blue carbon ecosystem in climate change, the factors that affect blue

carbon emission, the importance of the blue carbon ecosystem in mitigating climate

change. This has also an objective to prose a plan that can enhance the blue carbon,

and mitigate the impact of climate change in the marine environment, preserving the

resources in it.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of related literature with the end view of

supporting the claims of the study concerning the effects of Mangrove Blue Carbon on

Climate Change.

Costa et., al (2022) stated that blue carbon’ was coined over a decade ago to

describe the contribution of mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes to carbon

drawdown in coasts and oceans, concomitantly attracting the attention of policy-makers

and resource managers to their potential as a natural climate solution. They explore the

emergence and evolution of this relatively new research field through bibliometrics

approaches to investigate patterns and trends in scientific publications through time.

The aim of the paper was to understand the evolution of blue carbon science. Overall,

the carbon-sink capacity of these ecosystems has been recognized long before the term

‘blue carbon’ was coined; with an annual percentage growth rate the studies focused on

other ecosystems. The citation burst analysis showed that, was related to the overall

flux and dynamics of carbon, with a recent transition to the role of coastal vegetation in

climate change mitigation from 2009. The term ‘blue carbon’ became a hot topic in

2017, with the strongest citation burst between 2017 and 2020. This bibliometric study

draws the patterns and trends of blue carbon science and indicates that this field is

evolving over time to focus more on the blue carbon role as nature climate solutions.

Blue carbon is the term used to describe the carbon that is stored and

sequestered in marine ecosystems, coastal wetlands, biomass, and sediments. Long-

term carbon accumulation results from the majority of the captured carbon being stored

in soils and sediments. With sediment carbon burial rates up to 55 times quicker than
tropical rainforests, coastal wetlands provide a continuous and potent carbon sink. Blue

carbon ecosystems play a significant role in mitigating climate change due to this

carbon uptake, which helps balance out human GHG emissions. Loss or degradation of

blue carbon habitats has a double effect on carbon. The first is the possible loss of high

per-area rates of carbon sequestration, which are frequently observed in blue carbon

ecosystems. The second is the release of old carbon that has been buried for hundreds

or millennia and has been stored; this carbon causes warming. These effects have the

potential to transform blue carbon ecosystems from net carbon sinks to net emitters of

GHGs (Ramsar.org Website, 2020).

Blue carbon ecosystems are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide and storing it

in their soil, roots, leaves, and other tissues. Blue carbon ecosystems contribute to the

fight against climate change by eliminating carbon from the atmosphere. Even though

blue carbon ecosystems have a much smaller surface area than terrestrial forests, they

are extremely effective at sequestering carbon. For instance, mangroves have the

ability to store up to ten times as much carbon per acre than land-based forests. This is

due to the fact that blue carbon ecosystems store the majority of their carbon in their

soils, whereas terrestrial forests store the majority of their carbon in their biomass. In

actuality, salt marshes and seagrass meadows frequently store more than 95% of their

carbon in their soils. Because there is less oxygen in moist coastal soils than there is on

the forest floor, decay of dead plant matter occurs more slowly. Because of this, the

carbon that is stored in coastal soils can stay there for countless ages (KaitlynBra,

2022).
 Pricillia et., al 2021 Coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and

salt marsh provide ecosystem services to mitigate climate change. The stored carbon is

called blue carbon. To date, studies relating strategy to enhance blue carbon storage is

emerging. In developing a strategy to be applied to a natural resource, it is necessary to

consider how it is affected and influences its people's lives. Meanwhile, the studies

related to blue carbon management's social aspects are lacking compared to technical

and policy aspects. This paper aims to identify peer-reviewed documents that discuss

social aspects in the context of blue carbon management. This study uses a semi-

systematic review approach by reviewing relevant documents based on determined

keyword search terms. This study suggests that livelihood, land tenure, local

knowledge, and local capacity are essential to incorporate in blue carbon management.

The strategy must enforce communities to hold a significant role in governance. Those

aspects would help to increase community engagement to manage and support blue

carbon management. However, more extensive practical studies are needed to apply

strategies on the real subject to strengthen the theory in recent literature.

Anton et., al (2019) The term Blue Carbon (BC) was first coined a decade ago to

describe the disproportionately large contribution of coastal vegetated ecosystems to

global carbon sequestration. The role of BC in climate change mitigation and adaptation

has now reached international prominence. To help prioritize future research, they

assembled leading experts in the field to agree upon the top-ten pending questions in

BC science. Understanding how climate change affects carbon accumulation in mature

BC ecosystems and during their restoration was a high priority. Controversial questions

included the role of carbonate and macroalgae in BC cycling, and the degree to which
greenhouse gases are released following disturbance of BC ecosystems. Scientists

seek improved precision of the extent of BC ecosystems; techniques to determine BC

provenance; understanding of the factors that influence sequestration in BC

ecosystems, with the corresponding management actions that are effective in

enhancing this value. Overall, this overview provides a comprehensive road map for the

coming decades on future research in BC science. Global interest in BC is rooted in its

potential to mitigate climate change while achieving co-benefits, such as coastal

protection and fisheries enhancement1–3. BC has attracted the attention of a diverse

group of actors beyond the scientific community, including conservation and private

sector organizations, governments, and intergovernmental bodies committed to marine

conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The momentum provided

by these conservation and policy actors has energized the scientific community by

challenging them to address knowledge gaps and uncertainties required to inform policy

and management actions.

Alongi, (2018) cited that the issue of blue carbon as a mitigation strategy for

climate change impacts on global greenhouse gas emissions has been in place only for

the past few years. Since 2009, there has been an explosion of scientific papers

reporting on carbon stocks in a variety of estuarine and marine wetland habitats,

especially tidal salt marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows. Not

surprisingly, there has been an explosion of websites, strategic ideas, and pilot projects

involving either the restoration or replanting (or both) of these valuable coastal habitats.

And while there have been a number of papers totaling up the amounts of carbon

sequestered in soil and biomass in tidal wetlands, there is no complete overview of the
entire issue or a critical look as to whether or not REDD+ projects are truly worthwhile

and certainly whether or not the money being put into such projects is money well

spent.

The purpose of this book is to make a critical appraisal of this exploding ecological and

climate change issue, a sort of ‘stop and smell the roses’ type of analysis and reflection

on where the entire issue is headed. Indeed, the time is ripe for such a critical review as

projects are being planned or run without a good understanding of the complexities of

the issue of climate change adaptation and mitigation; there is a sense of rushing to

judgement without a good sense of the intricacies and practicalities running such a

project entails. As the reader will see, much has been learned by trial and error as the

practical knowledge base expands and as naivety dissipates after the hard lessons

have been learned. Perhaps given the alluring nature of blue carbon as a panacea for

climate change mitigation, it was inevitable that mistakes would be made in the early

‘band wagon days. But mistakes are still being made and some projects still lack good

project planning and evaluation, and a good grounding in hard scientific reality. Not all

lost habitat can be restored and some alternative sites have not been selected using the

best or the most stringent set of scientific criteria. Blue carbon is not a simple, linear

course correction for losses or for partial destruction of habitat, as we all have much

more to learn about how best to minimize (Alongi, 2018).

Presentation

Research Design

This study employed the quantitative descriptive research design. Quantitative

descriptive research design is a non-experimental type of research whereby the

variables are measured using numerical terms although the variables under

interrogation are not manipulated by the researcher (Accountingnest.com Website,

2023). The researchers also made use of the observational method specifically the case

study method wherein researchers collect and compare data from previous cases and

studies (GCU.edu Website 2021)

The rationale behind the use of quantitative descriptive research design is the

belief that it is the most reliable method to investigate the effects of the Philippine

Mangrove Blue Carbon ecosystem on Climate Change. The researchers used the

quantitative descriptive method to strengthen and enhance the reliability of their findings

and examine the results of the study. This method will help to identify the factors that

affect blue carbon emission and in creating a proposal of plan relative to mitigating the

climate change impacts through enhancing blue carbon.

The Philippines is chosen as the study site because the MRGIS tool provided the

necessary data that serves as the frame of reference for the study. Additionally, the

Philippines is chosen as there is no existing study about the mangrove blue carbon

effects on climate change. The Philippine archipelago has a large mangrove area which

is useful to the subject of understanding the relationship of mangrove blue carbon on

Climate Change. The study was conducted from April to May 2023.

Study site Map

Southeast Asia's Philippines is a group of about 7,100 islands situated between the

South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Two-thirds of the total land area is made up of

the two major islands, Luzon and Mindanao. The number of inhabited islands is only

approximately one third.

Data collection

The researchers used data mining to gather necessary information about the

topic of the study. Data mining, also known as knowledge discovery in data, is the

process of uncovering patterns and other valuable information from large data sets

(IBM.com Website, 2022). The researchers also made use of the MRGIS tool Ocean

Wealth Mapping- Mangrove blue carbon and different publication from the internet to

gather data and strengthen the reliability of the study.

Data analysis

Data analysis is about identifying, describing, and explaining patterns. With

regards to data analysis, the researchers utilized the following significant phases: First,

the researchers ensured that they entered their data without making errors since errors

made in the data can jeopardize the result of the study. Second, the researchers used

MRGIS tool specifically Ocean Wealth Mapping (Mangrove Blue Carbon) this helps the

researchers to gather and analyze data need for their stud. Third, is the identification of

pattern phases. Bivariate analysis is used in the study as it examines the relationship
between two variables, which is needed in the study. Bivariate analysis is used to

determine the relationship of Mangrove Blue Carbon on Climate change in the

Philippines.

Results

The findings of the study indicated that blue carbon has a huge effect on climate

change. Mangrove blue carbon not only contributes to mitigating the effects of climate

change but also improves the habitat of many marine organisms and also the well-being

of coastal communities. Additionally, the distraction blue carbon ecosystem can speed

up climate change as it will release the thousand years old buried carbons which cause

different ecosystem destruction.

Furthermore, the MRGIS tool demonstrates the potential role of mangrove NCS

in contributing to and enhancing climate mitigation ambition in countries with mangrove

habitats. The finding of the study also shows the total mangrove blue carbon

opportunity that can be achieved through mangrove restorations

Table 1 Figure 3

Mangrove Carbon Storage

Above Ground 700 (mtCO e/ha)

2

Below Ground 3200 (mtCO e/ha)

2

Total 3590 (mtCO e/ha)

2

Figure 4
Discussion

Table 1 indicates the mangrove carbon storage recorded by the MRGIS tool,

Above-ground carbon storage has recorded 700 (mtCO2e/ha) which is considered high

but is lower than the below-ground carbon storage which has 3200 (mtCO2e/ha). The

total amount of carbon storage is 3590 (mtCO2e/ha). Figure 3 shows 2.087

mtCO2e/yr Total Mangrove Blue Carbon Opportunity that can achieve mangrove

restoration efforts. Figure 4 shows that the mangrove ecosystem has the largest stored

carbon compared to other ecosystems. Mangrove holds about 900mg of CO2 per

hectare.

Comparison

The study made use of Costa et., al, 2022, Ramsar.org Website, 2020,

KaitlynBra, 2022, Pricillia et., al 2021, Anton et., al 2019, Alongi, 2018, stated that blue

carbon’ was coined over a decade ago to describe the contribution of mangroves,

seagrasses, and tidal marshes to carbon drawdown in coasts and oceans,

concomitantly attracting the attention of policy-makers and resource managers to their

potential as a natural climate solution: that Loss or degradation of blue carbon habitats

has a double effect on carbon. The first is the possible loss of high per-area rates of

carbon sequestration, which are frequently observed in blue carbon ecosystems. The

second is the release of old carbon that has been buried for hundreds or millennia and
has been stored; this carbon causes warming; blue carbon ecosystems are capable of

absorbing carbon dioxide and storing it in their soil, roots, leaves, and other tissues.

Blue carbon ecosystems contribute to the fight against climate change by eliminating

carbon from the atmosphere; studies relating strategy to enhance blue carbon storage

is emerging. In developing a strategy to be applied to a natural resource, it is necessary

to consider how it is affected and influences its people's lives; the role of blue carbon in

climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence;

and blue carbon is not a simple, linear course correction for losses or for partial

destruction of habitat, as we all have much more to learn about how best to minimize.

The discussion on the study has differences and similarities with the present

study, as it deals with the effect of mangrove blue carbon on climate change, it can help

decision-makers and other interested stakeholder use data to make informed decisions

about how to identify areas that may be subjected for enhancement and management

programs strengthening the blue carbon ecosystem and mitigating climate change.

Implications

The findings of the study will eventually contribute to the understanding of the

researchers and students about Mangrove blue carbon, climate change, and their

relationship with each other. The findings of the study can also contribute to the

government in formulating different conservation and management plan for blue carbon

and mitigating the effects of climate change. Additionally, the study may benefit nit only

the said group of people but it will also benefit the environment if proper actions has

been made.

Limitations
 There is a limited number of articles that can serve as the frame of reference for

the study, especially since the paper mostly relies on the tool provided by the MRGIS.

Additionally, data collection for the study is also limited due to the low number of frames

of reference that can be found on the internet that is directly related to the present

study.

Conclusion

Mangrove blue carbon has undeniably significant importance in mitigating climate

change. Additionally, blue carbon storage could bring a huge impact through mangrove

restoration activities. This also indicated that mangrove has the largest amount of stored

carbon, which is helpful in mitigating climate change. The study shows through relevant

literature that enhancing, managing, and conserving the blue carbon ecosystem is one

of the best strategies to prevent and lessen the impact of climate change especially in

the marine ecosystem. Future researchers should focus on how to improve the blue

carbon ecosystem relating to the mitigation of the impact of climate change.