Ambitious Mangrove Restoration: Good for the Environment and the Economy

Oman is restoring mangroves at a brisk pace to eliminate planet-warming emissions and generate economic benefits through carbon credits as part of its national goal to become net zero by 2050.

“We are living what we can call a war with nature because of climate change,” explains one of the conservationists involved in the Oman Blue Carbon project. “If we don’t take action, we will lose these natural resources.”

As highly effective carbon sinks, mangroves can remove CO2 from the atmosphere faster than forests and store it in soil and sediment for extended periods. Through the Oman Blue Carbon project – the first initiative to produce carbon credits through forestation – 100 million mangrove trees will be cultivated in the country over four years. In two years, 3.5 million mangrove tree seeds have been planted, including a record 2 million trees this year. The goal is to remove some 14 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, earning Oman $150 million in carbon credit benefits. Each carbon credit represents one metric ton of reduced or removed CO₂ from the atmosphere. In Oman’s clean energy transition and net zero strategies, the Sultanate is also developing green hydrogen production via Hydrom, hoping to produce 1 million tons by 2030 and more than 8 million tons by 2050.