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Building Blue Carbon Projects
An Introductory Guide
studies in other locations where standardized protocols for assessing ecosystem services
generation by evaluating condition have been performed, and where willingness to pay or
contingency valuation gives an indication of the value of services. It must be noted, however, that
valuation is very context-specific: therefore, the underlying assumptions about benefits-transfer
must be explicitly stated.
Further information
on Blue Carbon and the valuation of other ecosystem services can be found in
the following:
Key takeaways:
The many valuable ecosystem functions and services that coastal and marine ecosystems
provide are tightly interlinked.
Assessing and valuing ecosystem services entails understanding how Blue Carbon ES are inter-
linked, assessing environmental conditions, understanding the way these services are valued
and perceived in the local context, and assigning values.
A better recognition of ecosystem services values - not just monetary but also their role in
promoting better understanding of how ecosystems function and how they might be better
managed, as well as non monetary values, such as cultural and spiritual values - can catalyze
better policy and management practices.
A combined Blue Carbon and ecosystem services approach may be necessary to secure the
sustainable management of Blue Carbon ecosystems.
Coastal Capital: Ecosystem Valuation for Decision Making in the Caribbean
(Waite
et al
., 2014)
Beyond carbon: Conceptualizing payments for ecosystem services in blue forests on carbon and other marine
and coastal ecosystem services
(Lau, 2012)
Marine and coastal ecosystem services: Valuation methods and their practical application
(UNEP-WCMC,
2011)
Payments for Ecosystem Services: Getting Started in Marine and Coastal Ecosystems: A Primer
(Forest Trends
and The Katoomba Group, 2010)
