Economic and social well-being of high-carbon coastal systems

Identify and mitigate the causes of degradation and destruction of high-carbon coastal systems

To solve the conservation problem and ensure economic and social benefits in coastal areas with high carbon content, identifying and minimizing the causes of degradation and destruction of coastal ecosystems is approached by specific topics and activities.

Transformation or loss of coastal ecosystems due to urban development, agriculture, and aquaculture;

Construction of artificial features that impair natural tidal flooding and other processes leads to wetland degradation, loss of carbon sequestration, and release of stored carbon (e.g., roads, levees, harbor development, etc.).

Changes in river basins lead to changes in water and sediment flows. For example, deforestation on land can increase the sediment load that covers vulnerable seagrass areas downstream. Conversely, infrastructure that diverts sediment from coastal marshes and mangroves may reduce the deposition of carbon-rich sediment as sea levels rise;

Pollutants and nutrient runoff from land lead to the degradation of seagrass systems because nitrogen enrichment in wetlands reduces underground carbon sequestration, the marsh's ability to keep up. sea level and increased release of nitrogen oxides and gases that cause a very strong greenhouse effect;

Unsustainable production of wood and fuelwood/overexploitation, destruction of seagrass beds by dredging, trawling, boat traffic, and other activities affecting coastal ecosystems.

Strengthen conservation and protection measures from national to local levels

Strengthen national and local conservation and protection measures for high-carbon coastal systems while ensuring the economic and social well-being of communities that depend on these systems. This system includes: (1) Identifying and quantifying national coastal carbon storage; (2) Effective use of mechanisms such as land and sea integration: spatial planning, sustainable management plans, marine protected areas, conservation offsets, Payment for ecosystem services agreements, banking wetland goods and incentive agreements; (3) Adaptation measures that take into account climate impacts such as adequate and appropriate buffer zones that allow coastal ecosystems to migrate inland in response to sea level rise.

Implement region- and site-specific ecological restoration of high-carbon coastal systems, including (1) Restoring natural hydrologic patterns and sediment transport to lands Submergence has been transformed and degraded by tax and dam removal; (2) Restore and replant seagrass, tidal marsh, and mangrove vegetation.

Enhance international recognition of coastal carbon ecosystems

Current international actions to reduce the impacts of climate change do not acknowledge the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the degradation of coastal wetlands or the role of healthy coastal ecosystems in sequestering carbon dioxide.

Participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and related processes and mechanisms to address the management of coastal ecosystems, such as (1) Securing ecosystems coastal carbon is included and addressed in the revision and update of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) technical guidance on greenhouse gas emissions reporting, including encourage the publication of relevant peer-reviewed research; (2) Towards long-term reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals by sinks by direct anthropogenic coastal zone management; (3) Develop financial incentives to compensate for actions to reduce emissions from coastal ecosystems; (4) Include appropriate mangrove conservation and restoration activities in national strategies, policies and measures.

Formed in February 2011, the Blue Carbon Scientific Working Group provides the scientific foundation for the Blue Carbon Initiative by synthesizing current and emerging science on blue carbon and by providing a robust scientific basis for coastal carbon conservation, management and assessment. Priority research of the Scientific Working Group functions in close partnership with the Initiative’s Policy Working Group.

The Working Group meets regularly and consists of experts in coastal carbon science, carbon assessment, remote sensing and international climate change policy. The Working Group meets in blue carbon-rich countries and collaborates closely with local experts and government officials to identify or expand in-country activities supporting the conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems.

The Blue Carbon Scientific Working Group has developed the “Coastal Blue Carbon: methods for assessing carbon stocks and emissions factors in mangroves, tidal salt marshes, and seagrass meadows”. The manual provides managers, scientists and other practitioners in the field with standardized recommendations for carbon measurements and analysis. Additionally, the Scientific Working Group co-founded and is supporting the  Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network and building tools and capacity for data sharing specifically focused on ecosystem processes and coastal wetland carbon cycling.