Study Finds Cancún’s Laguna Manatí Mangrove Could Qualify for Carbon Credits

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The urban mangrove at Laguna Manatí holds between 170 and 300 tonnes of carbon per hectare in its vegetation and soil, a reserve as valuable as the one stored in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, according to a new scientific study.

Researchers say the findings give Quintana Roo the technical basis to enter the international carbon credit market and secure long-term economic protection for the ecosystem. The work was financed by the Quintana Roo Council for Science and Technology (Coqcyt) and the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research (CICY).

Eduardo Cejudo Espinosa, a Mexico-based researcher with the National Council for the Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt), assigned to CICY’s Cancún unit, said the study set out to quantify how much of the greenhouse gas the site captures and stores over the long term in order to help mitigate global warming.

“We have information on how much carbon is in the vegetation — that is, in the trees — and in the soil. After completing the entire measurement, analysis and final reporting process, we estimate there are between 170 and 300 tonnes of carbon per hectare,” he said.

Carbon Credits Could Fund Protection

Laguna Manatí covers roughly 234 hectares, giving it a high-impact total carbon storage capacity. Cejudo Espinosa said the goal of the survey is to fine-tune the data needed to enter the market for carbon bonds or credits — a financial system in which permits equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide reduced or removed from the atmosphere are bought and sold, allowing companies to offset their environmental footprint through environmental financing.

“The purpose is to obtain information to enter the carbon credit market. This means placing an economic value on Laguna Manatí in its current condition and knowing how much money could be lost if this vegetation cover is altered or degraded,” he explained.

Coqcyt funding covered supplies and sampling at nine study plots inside the lagoon.

Cejudo Espinosa said the project has not yet reached the stage of financial estimates, which he described as a complex technical challenge. He argued that money spent on scientific research should be treated as an indispensable investment in the region’s development.

He also noted that mangrove forests and coastal lagoons do more than store carbon: they filter water and are directly responsible for the turquoise hue of the Caribbean Sea, the main attraction driving tourism in the region.