Tap Sabah's mangroves potential for carbon trading, says UMS lecturer

 By Olivia Miwil - February 25, 2025 @ 12:50pm

DBKK director-general Lifred Wong (fourth right) during the planting of 2500 mangrove trees along Likas Lagoon near here. - NSTP/Olivia Miwil

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should leverage its readily available mangroves for carbon trading initiatives, said a Universiti Malaysia Sabah forestry lecturer.

"We always hear about carbon trading but where does all the money come from? We can use these tools to generate more income from carbon trading locally.

"Not many people know that mangroves can sequester 10 times more carbon compared with dryland forests.

"If dryland forests can sequester three tonnes of carbon per hectare, mangroves can sequester 10 times that amount," said Associate Professor Dr Berhaman Ahmad when met during Kota Kinabalu City Hall's (DBKK) programme on replanting 2,500 mangrove trees along the Likas Lagoon.

To date, Sabah's Kuamut Rainforest is the first certified nature-based carbon project in Malaysia, with its carbon credits traded for the first time on the Bursa Carbon Exchange in July last year.

Also present were DBKK director-general (Planning and Development Sector) Lifred Wong and deputy director (Operations) Robert Lipon.

Berhaman also called for collaborative conservation efforts as research had shown that mangroves play a crucial role in combating climate change.

According to the Sabah Forestry Department website, the state maintains approximately 234,680 hectares of mangrove forest reserves, constituting about 57 per cent of Malaysia's total mangrove areas.

The state also has two Ramsar sites: the 78,803-hectare Lower Kinabatangan-Segama Wetlands, gazetted in 2008, and the 24-hectare Kota Kinabalu Wetland, recognised in 2016.

A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty aimed at conserving wetlands.

"This (wetlands in Kota Kinabalu) will be one of the most important sites in Malaysia because no other city has such a vast mangrove area," he said, adding that stakeholders and the government should work together to conserve the habitat.

Meanwhile, Wong, who represented Mayor Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah, said that following a river cruise along the mangrove habitat in Likas Lagoon, which spans up to the Darau area, DBKK would focus on conservation efforts, including maintaining cleanliness and protecting marine ecology.

"Through the survey earlier, there may also be a need to expand it. Not just along the riverbanks, but a reserve buffer is also necessary. It is not only for mangrove conservation but also to ensure that anyone who enters the area by boat can experience its serenity.

"As for the consideration to list this area (Likas Lagoon mangrove) as a Ramsar site, DBKK will take the lead by working with the Forestry Department, UMS, and environmental non-governmental organisations.

"We must first determine the necessary steps: one is preservation, followed by sustainable tourism and other considerations," he said, highlighting the importance of the blue economy for fishermen along the lagoon.

Meanwhile, Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) Sabah Chapter president Eric Ye stressed the importance of balancing conservation with infrastructure development to encourage public appreciation of the natural environment.

"Besides conservation and greening programmes, we need recreational infrastructure. We need to bring people closer to the natural environment. Only then will they understand, appreciate, and ultimately conserve it. If we focus solely on conservation, it may not work," he said.