Environment
Tourists in Sta. Cruz Island
in Zamboanga City learning
about the importance of
biodiversity and conservation
Credits : Jaime Singlador / PEMSEA
Global discourse on Blue Carbon
solutions to be held at East Asian
Seas Congress in Iloilo
B
eyond the wide array of marine biodiversity and
ecosystems, the East Asian region hosts the world's
largest coastal carbon stocks which play a vital
role in the global carbon cycle. Endowed with
four million hectares of mangroves, three million
hectares of seagrass meadows and a wide extent of
tidal marshes, the region has an immense capacity
to sequester carbon dioxide from the Earth’s
atmosphere.
Mangroves, seagrass meadows and tidal
marshes are tagged as blue carbon ecosystems.
These ecosystems can remove 10 times more carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and can hold three to five times more carbon for longer
periods of time than a tropical rainforest. Within just 2% of the area
hosting coastal blue ecosystems, approximately 48% of carbon can be
sequestered for long-term storage amounts which can help remove
excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Though often underappreciated, the vegetation and soil of these blue
carbon ecosystems are worth billions of dollars of blue carbon value.
Mangroves alone amount to approximately 111 billion dollars, while
seagrass meadows can be the equivalent of 77 to 95 billion dollars.
Despite the growing recognition of coastal wetlands importance as
a source of blue carbon, they remain threatened with up to 800,000
hectares destroyed each year, or approximately 1.5% of the global
coverage. The loss of these coastal blue ecosystems can account for 10 to
20% of overall carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation annually. For
these reasons, the role of coastal blue carbon in tackling carbon dioxide
emissions and climate in general is continuously gaining attention in the
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international stage.
The upcoming East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress to be held from
November 27 to 30, 2018 at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City,
the Philippines, is encouraging everyone to join the global discourse on
blue carbon. Together with ocean leaders and experts, the Congress will
explore global research efforts as well as innovative approaches, strategies
and opportunities for partnerships in pushing for blue carbon solutions in
the region.
Participants can attend the following sessions:
-Establishing a Blue Carbon Research Network in the EAS Region by
the Korea Environment Management Corporation (KOEM). This is a 4-hour
session that will be pivotal in sharing regional and global information and
state of the art research efforts on blue carbon resources.
-Local Governments’ Blue Carbon Solutions towards Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability
and the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
This session aims to provide a platform for city-to-city knowledge
exchange among leaders and local champions to serve as the initial step
towards collaboration, replication and scaling up of blue carbon solutions.
-Climate Change Mitigation? Blue Carbon is Nature’s Way to Do It. For
this session, the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Blue Carbon Project will
convene experts and practitioners to share information, highlight gaps
in knowledge and management, and build partnerships on blue carbon
research and conservation in the region.
http://eascongress2018.
pemsea.org/
Note: to download Blue Carbon infographics, visit: http://eascongress2018.
pemsea.org/news-media/lets-talk-about-blue/