Blue Carbon: Advances in Science, Policy, & Management

Conserving and restoring mangroves and other “blue carbon ecosystems” (i.e., tidal marshes and seagrass beds) have emerged as an important focus of international climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Though much smaller in spatial extent than terrestrial forests, these ecosystems sequester carbon at a much faster rate and can bury large quantities of carbon in sediment for thousands of years. Moreover, they provide a wide variety of other ecosystem services, including buffering tidal surges, serving as nurseries for fisheries, and providing an array of nontimber forest products, which are directly beneficial to local coastal communities in adjusting to the vagaries of climate change. This panel of experts will discuss both recent advances in Blue Carbon science, policy, and management, as well as developments still needed to bring the promise of blue carbon to fruition.