Blue carbon: Carbon stored in seas and oceans. As effective carbon sinks, coastal ecosystems are a key focus of conservation efforts.

Of course, price is dependent on the scope and type of project, as well as the lack of availability of projects and high levels of interest from first movers — all of which are increasing the value of blue carbon credits. With that in mind, here is what companies should know about blue carbon projects and offsets as this new type of credit takes off. A significant amount of the carbon buried in coastal sediments outside of vegetated areas also comes from blue-carbon ecosystems, as currents carry organic matter farther out on the coastal shelf.

Despite these benefits and services, coastal blue carbon ecosystems are some of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth, with an estimated 340,000 to 980,000 hectares being destroyed each year. It is estimated that up to 67% and at least 35% and 29% of the global coverage of mangroves tidal marshes and seagrass meadows respectively have been lost. If these trends continue at current rates, a further 30–40% of tidal marshes and seagrasses and nearly all unprotected mangroves could be lost in the next 100 years. When degraded or lost, these ecosystems can become significant sources of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Although there is strong recognition of the many ecosystem services provided by mangroves, this blue carbon ecosystem is vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts, including rapid loss due to land conversion . Over the last 20 years, Indonesia has lost around 48.6% of its mangroves, mostly due to the conversion of mangrove forests into aquaculture .

On the other, exactly because of this absorption, the ocean may be one of humanity’s key tools in both mitigation and adaptation efforts. This study finds that mangroves in Mexico’s arid northwest, occupy less than 1% of the terrestrial area, but store around 28% of the total below ground carbon pool of the whole region. Despite their small are, mangroves and their organic sediments represent a disproportionate to global carbon sequestration and carbon storage.

Blue Carbon Will Be The Next Frontier Of Carbon Crediting

Despite all the benefits and opportunities they provide, coastal ecosystems are under intense development pressure. Coastal development and other damage since the 1800s has cost us about 25 percent of all salt marshes worldwide. We continue to lose mangroves at a rate that could be as much as 3 percent per year, salt marshes at 1-2 percent per year, and sea grasses at 7 percent per year. Another reason that coastal blue-carbon ecosystems attract attention as a solution to lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide is that they are powerful sinks relative to their size.

Twilight Zone Carbon can potentially be locked away for tens to hundreds of years because it takes a long time for water at these depths to recirculate back towards the surface. The group is also working on more precise and accurate mapping and analysis of these habitats. Read a few of our key conservation initiatives highlights from our latest annual report. Knowledge HubKnowledge HubWe strive for up-to-date, objective and accurate knowledge and information on ocean issues. Get InvolvedGet InvolvedFind out ways to be a part of the ocean conservation community, because the ocean needs all of our passion and resources. Who We AreWho We AreAs the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation’s mission is to support, strengthen, and promote those organizations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world.

What Is Blue Carbon, And Why Is It Important?

Ensuring that these efforts are credible, they make the funding and learning process more efficient which they hope will scale the number of projects worldwide. Beeston is optimistic that programs like these will “bridge the gap” between communities and their understanding of how important their blue carbon environments are. TheSoil Science Society of America is a progressive international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, WI, and founded in 1936, SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members and 1,000+ certified professionals dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. The Society provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, recycling, and wise land use. According to Scheelk, many countries where blue carbon projects are located don’t have the laboratory capacity to analyze soil carbon samples, forcing project developers and verifiers to ship the samples and pay for analysis in Europe, Australia or the U.S.

• Just like the oceanic carbon cycle, the coastal carbon cycle involves the physical pump which exchanges carbon and other gases between the atmosphere and surface waters and exports carbon into the seabed and into the open ocean.
• The slow cycle will return carbon to the atmosphere through volcanic activity, crustal plates, and surface ocean-atmosphere exchanges.
• Blue forests like seagrasses, mangroves, and salt marshes are particularly efficient at sequestering carbon, and are often referred to as “carbon sinks.” Maintaining these ecosystems is therefore critical for mitigating climate change.
• Coastal blue carbon is carbon stored in the vegetation and soils of mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses.
• Against this backdrop and based on the first author’s previous PhD research and other relevant scholarly works, in this commentary we discuss the aspects and contexts of the mangrove-based integrated shrimp farming system.

Five indices were developed to understand the ethnobiological knowledge of respondents . Except for the Mangrove Use Index, the rest of the indices were significantly different between the provinces. Respondents had negative attitudes towards the regulations that limit/did not allow the community to enter mangrove forests.

The approach promotes nature-based solutions and fosters sustainable pathways for food production, considering socio-economic and environmental dynamics. The coastal ecosystems of mangroves, seagrass meadows and tidal marshes mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and oceans at significantly higher rates, per unit area, than terrestrial forests . The carbon deposits accumulated within these systems are stored aboveground in the biomass of plants , below ground in the plant biomass , and in the carbon-rich organic soils typical to these ecosystems. The U.S. state of Oregon is developing goals and strategies to help maintain and expand the amount of carbon captured and stored in its natural and working lands.

Blue Carbon Restoration And Offsets Efforts

Seagrasses are being lost at a rate of 1.5% per year and have lost approximately 30% of historical global coverage. Seagrasses are submerged flowering plants with deep roots that are found in meadows along the shore of every continent except Antarctica. Carbon accumulates in seagrasses over time and is stored almost entirely in the soils, which have been measured up to four meters deep. Building Blue Carbon ecosystems should become an integral part of national mitigation and carbon sink plans, said Assistant Professor Thon Thamrong-Nawasawat of the Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University. Marine ecosystems are complex systems that can be found in oceans, coastal areas, and estuaries.

Some of that carbon returns to the atmosphere as methane and carbon dioxide, but some is buried in the soil and some is carried farther away and buried in ocean sediments. Cut off from the atmosphere, these underwater soils and sediments make an excellent long-term sink for carbon. NOAA Climate.gov graphic adapted from original by Sarah Battle, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Coastal ecosystems including mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes are critical to mitigating climate impacts and improving human well-being. Coastal blue carbon habitats are also sometimes referred to as “carbon sinks,” because they sequester more carbon than they release. Absorbing almost a quarter of all human-made carbon dioxide gas emitted into the atmosphere each year, the ocean is both a victim of, and a solution to, climate change. On one hand, the excessive CO2changes its chemistry, leading to ocean acidification, which can have lasting effects on the health of marine organisms and ecosystems.