A geospatial modelling approach towards efficient co-management of blue-teal carbon ecosystems in eastern India: implications for carbon trading mechanisms

Integrating coastal community initiatives with regional carbon (C) markets presents a strategic opportunity to bolster sustainable wetland management. The present study focuses on an interdunal wetland assemblage of eastern Indian coast, representing a blue (coastal brackishwater) – teal (inland freshwater) interface, for spatially explicit estimation of its ecosystem organic C (EOC) stocks. The EOC assessment encompassed quantification of above ground C (AGC), below ground C (BGC), and soil organic C (SOC) (down to 1 m depth) stocks. Employing an integrated geospatial modelling approach with SAR, optical, and in-situ datasets; the EOC stock of the wetland assemblage was estimated to be 8705.98 Mg with an average density of 67.58 ± 34.81 Mg ha⁻¹. Component-wise, the average C stock was highest for the AGC (36.57 ± 23.16 Mg ha⁻¹), followed by the SOC (22.30 ± 14.02 Mg ha⁻¹) and the BGC (8.70 ± 5.45 Mg ha⁻¹). Notably, we recognized intra-wetland land use/land cover patterns as critical drivers of EOC dynamics along the blue-teal interface. As this underscores the social-ecological importance of engaging local communities in sustaining landscape diversity and thereby efficiently regulating the EOC sequestration, participatory appraisals were conducted to explore suitable pathways for strengthening the existing community-based endeavors by aligning those with the compliance criteria of C markets. Thus, this study may be conceived as pioneering in coupling the spatial estimation of EOC stock, appraisal of community performances, generation of community awareness for potential C trading linkages, and identification of possible challenges and constraints of such linkages.