Blue Carbon Reports: Now Released!

Deputy Director ISER, Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray reports that she is very happy to share that after two years Blue Carbon reports have been released. Commissioned by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and led by Deakin University, she was part of a team that developed the first version of a Guide to Valuing Wetlands. The Guide outlines an approach to measure and account for the benefits of restoring coastal blue carbon ecosystems (mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass).  A ‘working version’, the Guide will now be tested and refined by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). This includes further exploring the use of UN SEEA at a project-level.

This work will help to understand and quantify the economic, environmental, and social changes from restoring blue carbon ecosystems.  She also led the second case study (first one was in the Hunter Valley) in the Trinity Inlet, near Cairns. The Trinity Inlet case study documents impacts of restoration activities for blue carbon. In both the Guide and the case study the team co-developed ideas for how to ensure effective and appropriate partnership with First Nation peoples in Blue Carbon initiatives.

A great example of work done in the marine sustainability space and setting direction for carbon initiatives for the future. For copies of all documents, download them at https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/policy/ocean-sustainability/coastal-blue-carbon-ecosystems/conservation/guide or https://www.bluecarbonlab.org/guide-to-valuing-coastal-wetlands/