Carbon Sequestration Potential of Some Egyptian Wetlands for Mitigating Climate Change
摘要
Several studies on carbon sequestration potential (CSP) in some wetlands in Egypt were carried out by Shaltout, Eid, and other colleagues (2013–2021). This chapter aimed to evaluate the spatial diffusion of soil organic carbon (SOC) in vegetated and unvegetated areas in different wetlands of Egypt. The study focused on five northern Mediterranean lakes and Red Sea mangroves. The aim was to obtain a precise estimation of SOC stock and determine the potential for carbon sequestration in these wetlands, including estimates and monetary valuation of this potential. The average values for SOC stock and carbon sequestration rate (CSR) were significantly greater in mangroves (38.9 kg C/m2 and 107.2 g C/m2/yr) compared to the northern Mediterranean lakes (10.1 kg C/m2 and 18.9 g C/m2/yr). This implies that mangroves exhibit a higher efficiency in sequestering atmospheric carbon in their sedimentary environments. Regrettably, the mangrove areas in Egypt are relatively limited in size, encompassing a total of 28 sites with a combined area of 5.25 km2. This is notably smaller compared to the smallest lake in North Egypt, namely Lake Mariut, which spans an area of 63 km2. The monetary estimate of the carbon segregation service given by the five northern Mediterranean lakes in Egypt, concerning the stock of SOC measured in metric tons per total area, is evaluated to be approximately €1.96 billion. Among these lakes, Lake Manzalla exhibits the highest valuation, amounting to €0.89 billion, while Lake Mariut demonstrates the lowest, with €0.09 billion. Furthermore, the CSR in tons of carbon per total area per year is estimated to be approximately 2.27 million euros. Lake Manzalla recorded the highest CSR value of 1 million euros, while Lake Edku had the lowest CSR value of 0.56 million euros.