Lead institution:
University of Victoria – Canada
Blue carbon ecosystems (BCE) are increasingly recognized as carbon reservoirs and potential natural climate solutions. Yet, despite having the world’s longest coastline, Canada has yet to account for the carbon value of its BCEs (salt marshes, seagrass meadows, kelp forests, seabeds) in its marine protected areas or climate solutions portfolio.
Blue Carbon Canada, a partnership between Canadian universities, government, and NGOs, is working to:
- quantify the current and future carbon sequestration potential of coastal vegetated BCEs under climate change and land use change;
- determine mobile bottom fishing impacts on seabed sediment carbon storage;
- assess the economic value and the biodiversity and ecosystem services of Canada’s BCEs;
- prioritize Canada’s BCEs for new protections and restoration to maximize benefits;
- mobilize this new knowledge to end-users to inform new climate-smart conservation, restoration, and management measures for Canada’s blue carbon.
Start Date: 1/7/2022
End Date: 8/31/2028
Lead Contact: Julia Baum (baum@uvic.ca)
challenges:
2- Protect and restore ecosystems
5- Ocean-climate nexus
8- Digital representation of the ocean
host_programme:
ocean_basins:
Arctic Ocean
North Atlantic Ocean
North Pacific Ocean
type_of_action:
Project