We discuss the significance of macrofaunal consumption as a process for mineralization of organic carbon in vegetated coastal wetlands, particularly mangrove forests. The high productivity of macrophytes (salt marsh and mangrove plants) in coastal wetlands results in high availability of organic matter generally recalcitrant to mineralization. In contrast, production from the microphytobenthos and macroalgae is easier to assimilate by macrofauna, but their contribution to the overall carbon flux of coastal wetlands is still obscure. Recent studies suggest that many coastal wetland macrofauna are behaviorally and physiologically adapted to utilizing low-quality macrophyte production. While many have been demonstrated by molecular techniques to possess endogenous cellulases, the degree of dependence on endosymbionts or ingested environmental microbes in assimilating macrophyte material is still unclear, which is likely to vary among taxa and habitats. Macrofaunal consumption nevertheless greatly accelerates the physical as well as chemical breakdown of macrophyte organic matter. Sesarmid crab consumption can mediate mangrove carbon removal >30 times faster than through microbial decomposition. Apart from direct mineralization through macrofaunal respiration of assimilated carbon, processed material may initiate a food chain that may result in increased mineralization through microbial decomposition and coprophagy. The spatial extent of the impact of macrofauna-mediated mineralization is also enhanced through processes such as export of larvae of detritivores and increased involvement of processed litter in particulate and dissolved organic matter exchange between coastal and nearshore habitats.