Studying and Evaluating the Ability to form Carbon Sinks in Biomass of the Pure Sonneratia caseolaris Plantation in the Coastal Area of Tien Lang district, Hai Phong city

Abstract

An evaluation study on the ability of mangrove Sonneratia caseolaris aged 10, 11, and 13 years old in the coastal area of Tien Lang district, Hai Phong city in carbon sequestration in standing biomass following the guidance of IPCC (2006) was conducted  to provide a basis for assessing the role of Sonneratia caseolaris plantation in greenhouse gas reduction and climate change response as well as to provide a scientific basis and information for international negotiations under programs of greenhouse gas reduction such as REDD and REDD⁺ program,; the study is based on the total and component (leaves, stems, branches and roots) biomass  of 72 S. caseolaris sample trees collected from 9 sample plot (each plot has an area of 100 m²) of S.caseolaris plantation aged 10, 11 and 13 years old  in 2014 - 2015. The results show that carbon stock in forest biomass reached the highest value in the 13 year-old forest (43.37 tonnes/ha), followed by the 11-year-old forest with 34.77 tonnes/ha; the lower value was seen in the 10-year-old forest at 32.69 tons/ha. The 10-year-old forest accumulated 4.81 tonnes/ha/year (corresponding to 17.65 tonnes of CO₂/ha/ year), the figures for the 11-year-old and 13 year-old forests were 5.18 tonnes/ha/year (equivalent to the amount of CO₂ of 19.01 tons/ha/year) and 5.52 tonnes/ha/year (equivalent to the amount of CO₂ of 20.26 tonnes/ha/year) respectively. The amount of carbon accumulated in forest tree corresponding to the amount of CO₂ sequestered by forest trees is very high, which is of significance to reducing the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere, contributing to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and responding to climate change. The great ability of forests to store carbon is a highly important element for the implementation of REDD, REDD⁺ programs in Viet Nam.