Carbon is the key to life.
You have got, got, got to respect that.
We are made of carbon, we eat carbon, and
our economies, our homes, our means of transport —
are all built on carbon.
We need carbon, but there’s one type of carbon
that’s a little more special than the others.
Blue carbon is the carbon stored and sequestered
in the soil and plants of coastal habitats
such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows or tidal salt marshes.
These coastal ecosystems are very special.
They are helping us address climate change
by removing carbon dioxide from the system
and then locking it away in the soil below them.
These ecosystems can 'capture and hold' carbon,
acting as something called a carbon sink.
These ecosystems can store between 2-5 times
and then up to 10 times the amount of carbon
than a terrestrial tropical forest can.
And all we have to do is make sure that we protect those ecosystems
to keep that carbon locked away
and not in the atmosphere causing climate change.
But we’re losing these blue carbon ecosystems faster than
we’re losing any other ecosystem on the planet.
Mumbai’s mangroves may be sacrificed.
This ecosystem is under threat.
Conservationists in Mombasa have raised the alarm
over the wanton destruction of the mangrove forest.
Blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangrove forests,
can protect communities against storm surge and sea-level rise.
In a study of developing countries subject to storms,
mangroves are estimated to reduce
the coastal areas impacted by storm surge by up to 50 percent.
Mangroves are also a critical habitat for marine species —
providing food and income for people.
And they improve and maintain water quality along coastlines.
So as carbon dioxide levels keep rising on our planet,
it’s essential that we protect and restore a key source
that can save us all from a climate catastrophe —
blue carbon.