Named “Mangues do Rio”, the project and its results were presented this Monday (3/7) at Enauta’s head office in the center of Rio. The event was attended by representatives from the State Department for Energy and the Maritime Economy; from the State Department for the Environment and Sustainability; and the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels). Enauta’s CEO, Décio Oddone, officially handed over the entire project and its results to Hugo Leal, the State Secretary for Energy and the Marine Economy, and to the ANP Superintendent for Technology and the Environment, Raphael Moura.

Led by Professor Mário Soares, the coordinator of NEMA, with the participation of 18 researchers, the project evaluated the contribution of the state’s mangrove forests to mitigating global warming. Over two years, the researchers meticulously accounted for the carbon stored in all the state’s mangrove forests, in addition to analyzing the role of coastal conservation areas in containing the process of degradation of the mangroves in Rio de Janeiro state and, consequently, in carbon retention.

A total of five Coastal Systems were analyzed, where the main mangrove forests are located. The study quantified the carbon associated with the mangrove trees (including their roots) and with the soil of the ecosystem. This is the first time that a study of this kind has been carried out for all the mangroves in a Brazilian state.

The research identified, for example, the high carbon storage capacity of mangrove forests, with amounts estimated at between 424.6 and 489.1 tC.ha-1 – around half a ton of carbon in an area equivalent to a football pitch.

Through the ANP´s R&D clause, Enauta systematically invests in research and development projects that enhance knowledge and the capacity for sustainable management of marine and coastal environments. Two years of work helped us to determine the carbon stock held in the mangrove forests of the state of Rio de Janeiro and its potential economic value.

Rebeca Kiperman – Sustainability Manager at Enauta.

Researcher Mário Soares, the coordinator of NEMA, a research group that is a pioneer in studies of carbon sequestration in Brazilian mangroves, considers that, “The Rio Mangroves project is a landmark in studies into the role of mangroves, because in addition to quantifying the carbon, it conducts an analysis of the level of conservation of this ecosystem over the last four decades, studies the role of the conservation areas and estimates the monetary value of the carbon stored.”

The information generated can now be used by different sectors of society. In addition to guiding new scientific studies, they can be used to assist management processes, whether at the state government level or within the sphere of each of Rio de Janeiro’s coastal municipalities. It also provides new data for the management of conservation areas, at the federal, state, or municipal level and for NGOs and traditional communities that are concerned about the conservation of this valuable ecosystem.