Date archive:
Underestimating the ocean: new evidence from IUCN highlights the carbon-regulating capacity of the ocean
Gland, Switzerland, 9 December 2014 – Protecting key carbon-absorbing areas of the ocean and conserving fish and krill stocks are critical for tackling climate change. This is one of the findings of a report released today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in which top marine scientists describe how atmospheric carbon is captured, stored and moves in the ocean.
Keep it Fresh or Salty: An introductory guide to financing wetland carbon programs and projects
Wetlands International, Conservation International and IUCN have together produced the publication Keep it Fresh or Salty: An introductory guide to financing wetland carbon programs and projects. The report provides guidance for program and project developers from, or working in, developing countries on the numerous funds and finance mechanisms that can provide carbon finance for wetland carbon conservation…
North American Blue Carbon Scoping Study
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation has published a report that examines the extent and carbon sequestration dynamics of blue carbon ecosystems in North America. The overlap of existing marine protected areas in North America with these coastal wetlands is explored in an effort to assess the current size of the blue carbon market in North America. Read…
The Role of Mangroves in Fisheries Enhancement
Other than carbon services, mangroves also provide other ecosystem services, including fisheries. Some 210 million people live in low elevation areas within 10 km of mangroves and many of these directly benefit from mangrove-associated fisheries. Yet, these people are often unaware of the key role mangroves may play, especially if the associated fisheries are offshore….
Mangroves for coastal defence: Guidelines for coastal managers & policy makers
A recent publication from Wetlands International and The Nature Conservancy deals with mangroves as a defense against waves, storms, tsunamis, erosion and sea level rise. Mangroves for coastal defence: Guidelines for coastal managers & policy makers by Wetlands International and The Nature Conservancy seeks to answer questions such as: Can mangroves reduce waves and storm surges? How will they…
Why whale poo matters – George Monbiot – the Guardian
I can hear you muttering already: he’s completely lost it this time. He’s written a 2,000-word article on whale poo. I admit that at first it might be hard to see the relevance to your life. But I hope that by the time you have finished this article you will have become as obsessed with marine faecal plumes as I am. What greater incentive could there be to read on?
In truth it’s not just about whale poo, though that’s an important component. It’s about the remarkable connectivity, on this small and spherical planet, of living processes. Nothing human beings do, and nothing that takes place in the natural world, occurs in isolation.
When I was a student, back in the days when mammoths roamed the earth, ecologists tended to believe that the character of living systems was largely determined by abiotic factors. This means influences such as local climate, geology or the availability of nutrients. But it now seems that this belief arose from the study of depleted ecosystems. The rules they derived now appear to have described not the world in its natural state, but the world of our creation. We now know that living systems which retain their large carnivores and large herbivores often behave in radically different ways from those which have lost them.
Full Economic Potential of Carbon-Rich Mangroves Remains Untapped, Finds New UN Report
Estimated Worth of Climate Benefits from Central African Mangroves up to US$66 billion. And New Satellite Technology Could Help Monitor Mangrove Restoration.
How Whales Change Climate
When whales were at their historic populations, before their numbers were reduced, it seems that whales might have been responsible for removing tens of millions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year. Whales change the climate. The return of the great whales, if they are allowed to recover, could be seen as a benign form of geo-engineering. It could undo some of the damage we have done, both to the living systems of the sea, and to the atmosphere.
NEW MANUAL FOR MEASURING, ASSESSING, AND ANALYZING COASTAL BLUE CARBON
The International Blue Carbon Initiative is proud to present “Coastal Blue Carbon: methods for assessing carbon stocks and emissions factors in mangroves, tidal salt marshes, and seagrass meadows”.
The Ocean can Help Meet the Climate Change Challenge, finds new Report
Abu Dhabi/Arendal, 6 November 2014 – In response to the call by the United Nations to provide innovative solutions to address the climate challenge and to prevent global biodiversity loss, GRID-Arendal, a centre collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Blue Climate Solutions, a project of The Ocean Foundation, have produced a report…