Blue carbon ecosystems including mangroves, seagrass meadows and salt marshes are among the natural world’s most effective ways of segregating and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. These marine and coastal ecosystems provide essential biodiversity hotspots, at the same time they are also rapidly gaining recognition for their significant contribution in climate change. For India with its vast coastline and increasing environmental issues, the preservation and development of these systems are not only environmental needs but also a strategic requirement for climate resilience, ecological security and sustainable development.
What are Blue Carbon Ecosystems?
The term “blue carbon” is used to describe the carbon stored by the earth’s oceanic and coastal ecosystems. In contrast to terrestrial forests, which stores carbon sinks, blue carbon ecosystems possess significantly higher carbon storage capacity per square unit. Mangroves have the capacity to store four times as much carbon as tropical rainforests and most of the carbon is held in the soil below the root system, which can keep it trapped for thousands of years.
India has stretches of these habitats, along its 7,500-kilometre-long coastline. Mangrove habitats exist in Sundarbans of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari and Krishna deltas, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra coastlines and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Seagrass meadows exist in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay and Lakshadweep. Salt marshes occur unevenly in different coastal wetlands.
These environments provide a range of ecological services such as, they stabilize coastlines, decrease erosion, shield inland regions from storm surges, enhance marine biodiversity and serve as nurseries for commercially valuable fish populations. It also contribute significantly to safeguarding coastal communities from the negative impacts of climate change such as cyclones and rising sea levels.
Role of Government in Blue Carbon
The Indian government plan for restoration works aimed at the essential ecosystems conservation in its various ways. These projects are across different ministries, different schemes for environmental restoration, livelihoods and climate mitigation objectives are happening at a faster pace.
There is a contribution to sequestration of blue carbon under the Namami Gange Programme where India has supported river rejuvenation mission. Though the programme government works mainly on sewage treatment, afforestation, conservation of wetlands and biodiversity and riverfront development. It has also supported large plantation drives along the Ganga river, which resulted in carbon sinks in riverine landscapes that facilitate similar sequestration activity.
Since 2016–17 the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has supported scientific afforestation in five major states i.e. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Nearly 33,024 hectares have been afforested in these five states. Uttarakhand tops the list with 12,306 hectares, reflecting both state’s vast forest cover and its upstream location in the Ganga system. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the most populous and heavily agricultural states in the basin, had 9,166 hectares and 8,554 hectares respectively, showing moderate progress towards incorporating forestation within sustainable land use.
Jharkhand and West Bengal contributed 884 hectares and 2,115 hectares respectively. The relatively low figures in these downstream states may reflect limited available land or administrative constraints, despite of their high ecological sensitivity and proximity to deltaic and estuarine regions, they are ideal for blue carbon habitats like mangroves.
Beyond the Ganga basin, India’s mangrove restoration activities have received direct funding. Between 2017 and 2023, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change approved ₹220.43 lakhs to Tamil Nadu alone, especially for the Pichavaram mangrove forests. These are under the “Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs” component of the National Coastal Mission. Although not distributed evenly across all coastal states, such attempts have set the stage for upscale restoration in the future.
MISHTI Project for Coastal Recovery
A significant step in India blue carbon journey was the announcement of MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes) in the Union Budget 2023–24. Unveiled on 5th June 2023 (World Environment Day) by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, MISHTI has the aim of promoting mangrove ecosystems, not only for their carbon sequestration value but also for their role as coastal bio-shields.
The scheme was rolled out by integrating the ongoing state schemes such as CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority), MGNREGS and other livelihood-oriented programmes. Gap funding will be provided by the national CAMPA.
India has made a significant leap towards including carbon sequestration projects in the economy through the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), which was notified on 28th June 2023 under the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022. The scheme consists of two mechanisms i.e. compliance and offset which served as theory open doors for blue carbon credits. The technical support is being given by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the National Steering Committee for the Indian Carbon Market (NSCICM), There is no specific organisational setup within the CCTS at present to bring in coastal ecosystem services as a part of the carbon market, which is an important gap that needs to be filled.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Community Engagement
India blue carbon strategy is the recognition of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Traditional communities have historically conserved and managed mangroves and coastal ecosystems. For instance, in some areas of Odisha and the Sundarbans, villagers seed and guard mangroves through traditional methods inherited generationally.
The government has engaged these communities actively in restoration work, appreciating that any long-term conservation success depends on their participation. This participatory strategy enhances ecological achievement as well as socio-economic resilience since these ecosystems benefit fisheries directly and shield agriculture from saline intrusion.
While promising projects exist, there are some key challenges. The lack of a national blue carbon policy framework and blue carbon-specific funding, confines the scalability of existing efforts. Restoration initiatives are still considered from the perspective of afforestation or conservation of biodiversity not as climate tools.
Role of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the context of the Paris Agreement have proposed creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent using forest and tree cover by 2030. Although these goals do not directly refer to blue carbon ecosystems, bringing mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes into this plan would be a welcome addition.
India must also develop a scientific inventory of its blue carbon stocks, establish monitoring protocols and invest in research and mapping to identify restoration priorities. With rapid urbanization, port development and tourism posing threats to coastal ecosystems, protecting existing carbon sinks must be treated as a national priority.
Future of India: Blue Carbon for a Green India
While India treads the fine line between environmental sustainability and economic growth, blue carbon ecosystems provide a solution where both ends are met. It will not only fight climate change but also enhances the climate adaptation capacity of vulnerable coastal communities. Its contribution to meeting the aims of net-zero emissions and safeguarding biodiversity is unquestionable.
The road forward would require more inter-ministerial coordination’s, increased state government participation, community engagement and private investment. With targeted policy guidelines such as MISHTI and tools such as CCTS refining themselves, India is poised to make its coasts one of the most effective allies in the battle against climate change.
Thus, protection and promotion of blue carbon ecosystems is not merely a matter of planting mangroves, it’s about securing India’s green future, economic resilience and world leadership in climate action.
