Building Blue Carbon Projects - An Introductory Guide

Potential areas for further research into Blue Carbon ecosystems and scientific discovery may include marine vertebrates and algal mats (image credit from left to right: schooling Trevalley off the Great Barrier Reef - Catlin Seaview Survey/Underwater Earth; cyanobacterial algal mats of Abu Dhabi - image credit AGEDI/Pat Megonigal).

Other Ecosystems

Although mangroves, saltwater marshes and seagrasses are the current focus for Blue Carbon, in time, other marine ecosystems may be explored for their carbon values. The 2009 IUCN report titled The Management of Natural Coastal Carbon Sinks discusses kelp forests and coral reefs as potential carbon sinks (Lafoley and Grimsditch, 2009) (discussed further in Section 5). Recent research and publications suggest a potential marine carbon sequestration role for the conservation and restoration of marine vertebrate populations, including fish stocks and marine mammals (Arnason et al ., 2008; Pershing et al ., 2010; Smith et al ., 2010; Lutz, 2011; Saba and Steinberg, 2012; Wilmers et al ., 2013; Irigoien et al ., 2014). Additionally, there may be other currently unknown candidate or potential blue carbon ecosystems. For example, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is home to large areas of salt flats that were explored for their Blue Carbon potential during the Abu Dhabi Blue Carbon Demonstration Project. The project also found noteworthy  results  related  to  the  carbon  stored  in  the Emirate’s algal mats, which are described  in   Case Study 8.1. To-date, algal mats and marine vertebrates have not been rigorously explored for their connection to climate change mitigation and a scientific consensus on their consideration as part  of  ‘Blue  Carbon’  is  lacking.  They  do  present  however,  significant  candidate  areas  for  further   research into Blue Carbon.

Key takeaways:

The international community currently considers mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses as ‘Blue Carbon’ ecosystems  that provide  value  for  climate  change mitigation. Further fields for Blue Carbon may include marine vertebrates, kelp, and algal mats.

Building Blue Carbon Projects An Introductory Guide

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