Building Blue Carbon Projects - An Introductory Guide

Introduction and Context Blue Carbon is a term used to describe the climate change mitigation benefits of preserving, protecting, and restoring coastal habitats such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and saltwater marshes (Nellemann et al ., 2009). Blue Carbon is a recent concept that joins the fields of marine and coastal management and climate change science. This text considers a Blue Carbon project as one that uses the climate change mitigation value of marine and coastal ecosystems to support their conservation, sustainable use, and restoration. All Blue Carbon projects are essentially  ‘new’  and  can  present  a  complex  and  daunting  endeavour  for  project implementers, whether they are from governments, civil society, or the private sector. Demonstrating Blue Carbon and implementing project results are challenging goals as they go beyond business as usual in order to create and understand and secure carbon and coastal ecosystem benefits. This introductory guide, a product of the Abu Dhabi Blue Carbon Demonstration Project, aims to stimulate discussion regarding projects that support the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems based on a Blue Carbon approach. It serves as a snapshot of potential common Blue Carbon project elements based on existing projects and an introduction of key issues for consideration. This guide is intended to complement existing Blue Carbon materials and reports (many of which links are provided for throughout this text) and potentially stimulate subsequent guides that will support Blue Carbon project development. Many questions are raised when discussing potential Blue Carbon projects with national representatives and other interested parties. Dispersed throughout the text are some responses to one of the most common questions, which, though simple, can be difficult to answer - why is Blue Carbon important? The target audience of this introductory guide is the range of potential project proponents interested in applying Blue Carbon values through the development of Blue Carbon projects to mitigate climate change and support coastal ecosystem management to enhance natural resource values. Such proponents might include government officials in relevant Ministries and Agencies, universities, project development professionals and managers, and private sector representatives who may be looking for opportunities to strengthen their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Target audience

What this report is not

This introductory guide is not intended as a prescriptive ‘manual’ or ‘template’ for Blue Carbon projects. It is still early days for application of the Blue Carbon concept, so there is much to learn and one project type will never fit all settings. Individual projects will necessarily conform to unique national settings and priorities, including ecological, social, and political conditions, geographic context, availability of funding, and other factors.

Building Blue Carbon Projects An Introductory Guide

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