Pakistan’s coastal mangrove forests have the potential to generate between $20 million and $50 million annually in carbon credit revenue. That is according to Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Pakistan’s Minister for Maritime Affairs, who spoke at the International Day of Mangrove Ecosystems on Saturday, July 26, 2025, who said Pakistan has the largest contiguous arid mangrove forest in South Asia, primarily located along the Singh Indus Delta.
“Sindh’s Delta Blue Carbon (DBC) project, covering over 350,000 hectares, has already yielded $40 million in carbon credit sales and is expected to contribute billions of dollars in revenue in the coming decades,” the minister said.
Launched in 2015 as a public-private partnership between the Government of Sindh and Indus Delta Capital, the DBC project focuses on the restoration and conservation of mangrove forests spanning over 3,500 square kilometres in the Indus Delta region. Even Balochistan, with a comparatively minor mangrove coverage of approximately 4,058 hectares, holds significant potential in Pakistan’s broader carbon market strategy.
Mangroves, known for their unique capacity to capture carbon, absorb up to four times more carbon dioxide than terrestrial trees, making them a critical tool in global climate mitigation.
Table: Pakistan Mangroves and Carbon Credit Statistics
The minister added that Pakistan’s ongoing mangrove rehabilitation programs in Sindh and Balochistan are proving effective in protecting the coastline from erosion and flooding: “The health of our coastal ecosystems is directly tied to the sustainability of fisheries, eco-tourism, and coastal livelihoods. Any decline in mangroves threatens these key sectors and the well-being of communities that depend on them,” he said.
