Climate change mitigation: From carbon cycle to policy

Climate change can be mitigated simultaneously by two ways, maintaining the greenhouse gases below the carbon budget and conserving marine and terrestrial vegetation for carbon sequestration. Marine vegetation (e.g. mangrove and seagrass meadows) is less than 0.5% of the total marine area and narrower compared to terrestrial vegetation. However, marine vegetation has high net primary production (NPP) and contributes more than 50% of the global carbon burial in its substrate and biomass. Indonesia has 3,301,848 ha of mangrove area, the widest in South-East Asia. The seagrass meadows of Indonesia are 150,693 ha, the second widest seagrass area in the world. These two ecosystems are important for the global carbon cycle due to their high capacity for carbon sequestration. Considering this potential, it is necessary to promote a strategic scientific-based policy of conservation of marine vegetation areas for both local and national stakeholders. The policies consist of: 1) to implement the National/Local Action Plan for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (RAN/D GRK); 2) to manage the land use changes that contribute 67% of total national emissions; 3) to determine coastal ecosystem protection areas that are considering the province policy in the Plan for Zoning of Coastal Areas and Small Islands (RZWP3K); 4) to rehabilitate terrestrial vegetation, coastal ecosystems, and aquatic conservation areas (President Regulation no 61/2011); and 5) to strictly carry out the national policy for green open space (Government Regulation no 26/2008).