International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol.15, No.4, 220-232 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 226 surface carbon content at some demonstration sites increased by more than 20% within three years of recovery, showing a strong carbon sink rate. In addition, the recovery of mangroves has brought about disaster reduction and livelihood benefits. This case shows that through large-scale recovery actions combined with government-led, community participation and scientific guidance, the trend of mangrove degradation can be reversed in a short period of time and rebuilding the ecological carbon pool. The success of the Mekong Delta mangrove restoration project has provided valuable experience for other coastal areas around the world. The model of "engineering measures + ecological restoration + social participation" can be used as a reference for future mangrove carbon sink improvement projects. 5 Innovation in Mangrove Management Model 5.1 Community co-management and benefit sharing mechanism Traditionally, mangroves are often centrally managed by government forestry or marine departments, but practice has proved that it is difficult to protect mangroves in a timely and effective manner on the vast coastline by relying solely on official supervision. In recent years, a mangrove management model with community co-management as the core has emerged in many countries, emphasizing the inclusion of local communities into the management system, sharing the responsibility for mangrove protection and management with the government, and sharing the resulting benefits (Adenan, 2018). Under this mechanism, fishermen and villagers living near mangroves are no longer regarded as mere resource users, but are empowered to become guardians of resources. At the same time, the introduction of a benefit-sharing mechanism allows communities to directly benefit from mangrove protection, thus forming positive incentives (Karpowicz et al., 2024). There are many specific ways to share benefits, including sustainable use of mangrove resources (such as regularly and limitedly collecting dead branches of firewood, honey, aquatic products, etc.), and sharing of income from participation in ecological tourism. In some mangrove ecological tourism areas in Thailand, community members participate in tour guides and management. Part of the tourism income is used for community development and the other part is used for mangrove maintenance. Villagers gain tangible economic benefits from it, so they support protection work more. Under the community co-management model, the traditional "government management and people's use" has transformed into "government guidance and people's protection", which has greatly alleviated the problem of insufficient supervision of manpower and reduced conflicts. Facts have proved that with the in-depth participation of the community, the illegal logging and encroachment of mangroves have been significantly reduced, and forest restoration and carbon sink improvement have been smoother. 5.2 Introduction of ecological compensation and carbon trading mechanism In order to increase the enthusiasm for mangrove protection and restoration, many regions have begun to explore economic means, such as ecological compensation and carbon trading, to convert the ecological service value of mangroves into actual benefits and feedback to protectors. The ecological compensation mechanism is usually led by the government. In addition to government compensation, ecological compensation for development projects is also one of the important means. Under the strict environmental impact assessment system, if mangroves are occupied due to necessary infrastructure construction, the use of the local area must pay funds to restore at least the same area of mangroves in other places, or directly implement replanting in designated areas to achieve "one to one, one, one, and one to the best." This internalizes the cost of the developer, prompting it to minimize the occupation of mangroves (Rasowo et al., 2024). The carbon trading mechanism provides a platform for an efficient carbon sink ecosystem like mangroves to enter the market. As the international community's awareness of "blue carbon" increases, more and more carbon trading systems and voluntary carbon markets have included mangrove carbon sinks in the accounting and trading scope. A typical case is Kenya’s “Mikoko Pamoja” project, the world’s first mangrove carbon credit project. Local communities receive carbon credit income every year for protecting mangroves, which is used for community development and reinvestment in ecological protection (Chisika and Yeom, 2023). This model has been replicated in many countries, such as Indonesia, Madagascar and
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