A recent valuation of the Pichavaram mangrove forest in Tamil Nadu, India, puts its total ecosystem services at Rs 2,485 crore (about US$289 million). The assessment includes carbon storage, fisheries support, coastal protection, and tourism. Mangroves are a key blue carbon ecosystem, capturing and storing carbon in both vegetation and soil. The study found the mangrove vegetation stores about 79 tonnes of carbon per hectare, while the soil holds a much larger reservoir at 251 tonnes per hectare. Combined, the blue carbon asset is valued at Rs 1,612 crore. This highlights the economic case for protecting mangroves, which also face threats from pollution, shrimp farming, and unregulated tourism. For carbon markets and climate finance, this valuation provides a concrete figure for the carbon stored in a Ramsar-listed mangrove site. It shows how natural ecosystems can be quantified in financial terms, which matters for project developers and policymakers looking to fund conservation through carbon credits or payments for ecosystem services.
