The value of wetlands for climate change mitigation and other socio-

7 3 Background - Wetlands, AR and REDD+ in Ghana

3.1 The value of wetlands for climate change mitigation and other socio-

economic and environmental services The key importance of wetlands is recognized in many international conventions such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Biological Diversity CBD, the World Heritage Convention WH, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD, the Convention on Migratory Species CMS and the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC. In comparison to tropical forests, mangroves have actually been found to be more efficient at carbon sequestration Laffoley and Grimsditch, 2009. Mangrove forests in coastal swamps may contribute up to 10 of total global deforestation emissions, despite covering just 0.7 of tropical forest area. Mangroves are thus an option for countries interested in developing REDD+ actions. However, despite their impact on emissions, there are few REDD+ man- grove projects in preparation at national or sub-national scale. Their inclusion in REDD+ mechanisms is now being promoted by a number of organizations, including the United Na- tions Development Program, Danone, Wetlands International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Ramsar through the Wetland Carbon Partnership. Apart from their value as carbon sinks, mangroves also provide many other socio-economic benefits including regulatory services protection of coastlines from storm surges, erosion and floods; land stabilization by trapping sediments; and water quality maintenance, provision- ing services subsistence and commercial fisheries; honey; fuel-wood; building materials; and traditional medicines, cultural services tourism, recreation and spiritual appreciation and supporting services cycling of nutrients and habitats for species. For many communities, mangroves provide a vital source of income and resources from natural products and also serve as fishing grounds. In Kenya, researchers from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute have been using GIS mapping to assess deforestation rates in mangrove forests to create a baseline. This means mangroves can be included under any national REDD+ strategy in Kenya, greatly improving the potential for REDD+ in mangrove forests bluecarbonportal.org 4 . In Senegal, the first AR project in mangroves 5 was validated under CDM, for the rehabilitation of 1,700 ha of degraded mangroves, while a nation-wide Program of Activities is being drafted for expanding this successful initiative.

3.2 Current situation of wetlands in Western Ghana