Leveraging mangroves to advance climate action in Africa: Zooming in on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Mangroves are vital for climate change adaptation and mitigation due to their efficient carbon sequestration and coastal protection roles providing often untapped opportunities for countries to enhance their national climate commitments (including the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions) under the Paris Agreement adopted at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP21 in 2015. In Africa, several countries possess mangroves and have signed the Paris Agreement, however, the level of integration of mangrove actions into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) has not been adequately explored. Using a systematic review methodology, 33 African countries possessing mangroves were selected and their NDCs were reviewed, scored, and ranked to assess their level of integration of mangrove ecosystems into their NDCs.

Unravelling the impact of environmental variability on mangrove sediment carbon dynamics.

Mangrove ecosystems represent low-cost climate-regulating systems through carbon storage in their sediments. However, considering the complex shifts in shallow coastal ecosystems, it is clear from just a few sets of environmental impacts on their carbon storage that there is a deficit in the information required for preserving this service. Here, we investigated the spatial and temporal variability of hydrographic factors (water temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), flow velocity, turbidity) and sediment characteristics (sedimentation rate and sediment grain size) on the intricate carbon dynamics of mangroves by examining which key variable(s) control mangrove sediment organic matter (OM).

The composition, distribution, and socio-economic dimensions of Ghana's mangrove ecosystems.

Mangrove ecosystems are recognised as one of the nature-based solutions to a changing climate. Notwithstanding the socio-ecological benefits of mangrove ecosystems, they are increasingly being destructed in some regions of the world. In Ghana, several studies have reported on the status, use, and management strategies of mangrove ecosystems in different sites of the country.

Marine macroinvertebrate ecosystem services under changing conditions of seagrasses and mangroves.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of changing environmental conditions on MMI ES in seagrasses and mangroves. We used data from satellite and biodiversity platforms combined with field data to explore the links between ecosystem pressures (habitat conversion, overexploitation, climate change), conditions (environmental quality, ecosystem attributes), and MMI ES (provisioning, regulation, cultural). Both seagrass and mangrove extents increased significantly since 2016.

Does mangrove vegetation structure reflect human utilization of ecosystem goods and services?

Many coastal communities in developing countries depend on mangrove ecosystem services (ES). A combination of anthropogenic and environmental stresses threatens mangroves globally. This study at the Ankobra catchment communities in Ghana focused on the relation between ES utilization and mangrove forest structure.