A forest that stores carbon in the floor
The Tanintharyi Region's coastline is a dense network of tidal channels and islands fringed with some of Southeast Asia's most extensive mangrove forests. These ecosystems sequester large amounts of carbon, a process scientists call "blue carbon." Mangroves capture atmospheric carbon and store it in their biomass, including trunks, leaves, and roots. They are exceptional because their ability to store the majority of this carbon deep within the surrounding soil.
A 2024 study in the Chaungkaphee Protected Public Forest within Tanintharyi found that while the trees and other vegetation held about 218.76 metric tons of carbon per hectare, the soil held an average of 921.09 metric tons of carbon per hectare. The waterlogged, low-oxygen mud prevents dead organic matter from decomposing fully. Over millennia, this creates a deep, carbon-rich peat. The carbon density in Myanmar's mangroves can be 11 to 12 times higher than previously used estimates for the country's forests, making them far more effective at carbon storage than most other forest types. This buried carbon is the accumulation of thousands of years of forest life.
A carbon sink turned carbon source
The stability of this immense carbon store depends entirely on the health of the mangrove forest above it. When the trees are cleared for charcoal production, rice paddies, or palm oil plantations, the soil is exposed to the atmosphere. Oxygen penetrates the previously waterlogged layers, allowing microbes to break down the ancient organic matter. This process releases the stored carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. A system that once cooled the planet becomes a new source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Between 2010 and 2020, Myanmar lost 108,772 hectares of its mangrove cover. While the Tanintharyi region has historically seen less degradation than other parts of Myanmar, it is now under increasing pressure. The primary drivers of this loss are illegal logging, agricultural expansion, and charcoal production, much of which is illegally traded with Thailand.
The forests are dominated by species from the Rhizophora, Avicennia, Bruguiera, and Ceriops genera. Specifically, species like Rhizophora apiculata and Rhizophora mucronata are often the most abundant, and show high potential for biomass and carbon storage. The loss of these specific trees removes the forest canopy and destabilizes the soil that holds one of the world's most concentrated natural carbon reserves.