NERRS Blue Carbon PUTTING WETLAND CONSERVATION & RESTORATION IN REACH By any measure, wetlands are a bargain. They are nature’s most effective carbon trapping machines—inch for inch they capture more carbon than any other habitat on earth. They also protect water quality, stabilize shorelines, reduce storm surge, and provide habitat for fisheries. But we are losing these precious resources. Since 2005, the U.S. has lost 80,000 acres of wetlands, and the cost of restoration is often beyond community reach. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) and partners are helping decision makers use blue carbon science to conserve and restore wetlands, reduce emissions, and preserve the many other benefits these special places provide. As a result of their work, communities have the science and tools to estimate a marsh’s capacity to trap and store carbon. For the first time, they have a protocol that enables them to tap into and navigate voluntary carbon markets. Most importantly, they can access a potential revenue stream to help fund wetland conservation and restoration and protect the social, ecological, and economic benefits wetlands provide. Healthy wetlands store more carbon than forests. (It’s called blue carbon. ) Restoring degraded wetlands is an effective climate mitigation strategy with rapid rewards. Nationwide, wetlands are disappearing—restoring and managing them is expensive. Voluntary blue carbon markets can help pay for wetland restoration and conservation. Local Science, National Impact These advances in blue carbon science and policy were made possible by sustained congressional investment in NERRS collaborative science. By engaging decision makers in the research process, collaborative science projects directly address community needs. Through a national network dedicated to sharing tools and knowledge, local research strengthens all 29 Reserves and the communities they serve, leaving them better prepared to manage our changing coasts. Communities, businesses, and individuals can sell carbon offsets and invest the proceeds in projects that capture carbon and provide other important ecological and economic benefits. More Information? Rebecca Roth [email protected]/ www.nerra.org
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NERRS Blue CarbonPUTTING WETLAND CONSERVATION & RESTORATION IN REACH
By any measure, wetlands are a bargain. They are nature’s most effective carbon trapping machines—inch for inch they capture more carbon than any other habitat on earth. They also protect water quality, stabilize shorelines, reduce storm surge, and provide habitat for fisheries.
But we are losing these precious resources. Since 2005, the U.S. has lost 80,000 acres of wetlands, and the cost of restoration is often beyond community reach. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) and partners are helping decision makers use blue carbon science to conserve and restore wetlands, reduce emissions, and preserve the many other benefits these special places provide.
As a result of their work, communities have the science and tools to estimate a marsh’s capacity to trap and store carbon. For the first time, they have a protocol that enables them to tap into and navigate voluntary carbon markets. Most importantly, they can access a potential revenue stream to help fund wetland conservation and restoration and protect the social, ecological, and economic benefits wetlands provide.
Healthy wetlands store more carbon than forests. (It’s called blue carbon.)
Restoring degraded wetlands is an effective climate mitigation strategy with rapid rewards.
Nationwide, wetlands are disappearing—restoring and managing them is expensive.
Voluntary blue carbon markets can help pay for wetland restoration and conservation.
Local Science, National Impact
These advances in blue carbon science and policy were made possible by sustained congressional investment in NERRS collaborative science.
By engaging decision makers in the research process, collaborative science projects directly address community needs. Through a national network dedicated to sharing tools and knowledge, local research strengthens all 29 Reserves and the communities they serve, leaving them better prepared to manage our changing coasts.
Communities, businesses, and individuals can sell carbon offsets and invest the proceeds in projects that capture carbon and provide other important ecological and economic benefits.
For nearly a decade, Massachusett’s Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve has worked with partners to advance blue carbon science and bring this knowledge to bear on decisions to conserve, restore, and manage tidal wetlands.
The team has established that the restoration of degraded tidal wetlands creates resilient marshes that build elevation and store more carbon. By contrast, degraded wetlands can lead to higher emissions of methane—one of the most powerful greenhouse gases—decreases in carbon storage, and the loss of other important benefits, including water quality protection and storm surge mitigation.
This science underscores the need to consider coastal wetlands in climate action plans and greenhouse gas inventories. In support of this, the team has developed tools and knowledge that they are sharing with communities, land managers, policy makers, and educators nationwide:
• Innovative, field-tested techniques to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon capture in marshes
• User-friendly model to predict marsh GHG emissions and carbon storage and help guide management and policy in the Mid-Atlantic region
• First-ever U.S. guide to marketing wetland blue carbon and a protocol to make salt marsh restoration eligible for voluntary carbon markets
• Carbon market feasibility`study that demonstrates a wetland restoration project’s potential to receive credits from a voluntary carbon market
• Potential for smaller scale restoration projects to join forces to access voluntary carbon markets
• Educational materials that support Next Generation Science Standards with curricula that shares blue carbon science and policy
PartnersAs a NERRS collaborative science project, the Bringing Wetlands to Market project engages the resources and expertise of a range of partners from the public, private, and academic sectors.
• Waquoit Bay National EstuarineResearch Reserve
• United States Geological Survey
• Restore America’s Estuaries
• National Estuarine ResearchReserve Association
• Cape Cod National Seashore
• Friends of Herring River
• Terra Carbon, LLC
• Marine Biological Laboratory
• University of Rhode Island
• West Virginia University
• Massachusetts Department ofConservation and Recreation
NERRS National NetworkPROVIDING THE TOOLS & KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITIES NEED
Through the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERRS) network, knowledge gained through the Bringing Wetlands to Market project in New England is catalyzing blue carbon initiatives around the country.
Five Reserves on the Gulf of Mexico—Aplachicola (FL), Grand Bay (MS), Mission-Aransas (TX), Rookery Bay (FL) and Weeks Bay (AL)—partnered with Restore America’s Estuaries to launch a blue carbon network. The forum facilitates technical assistance for those interested in blue carbon markets and provides a platform to coordinate future blue carbon efforts in the region.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Padilla Bay (WA) and South Slough (OR) Reserves have partnered to assess the viability of blue carbon financing to support the conservation and restoration of tidal wetlands, eelgrass meadows, and coastal lowland areas that act as buffers against sea level rise. This work is informing communties, state legislatures, science programs, and funding agencies.
Alaska’s Kachemak Bay Reserve collaborated to map wetland carbon stocks and empower community leaders to connect wetland values to blue carbon strategies and increase overall commitment to wetland conservation.
Florida’s Rookery Bay Reserve explored the feasibility of blue carbon financing for the restoration of 263 acres of mangroves to increase carbon sequestration, storm resilience, and habitat conservation. The project could lead to 33,000 tons of CO2 reductions over 30 years and generate up to $450,000 in habitat restoration financing.
When Texas stakeholders wanted to know more about how to finance wetland conseravtion, the Mission-Aransas Reserve responded with workshops and public outreach to communicate blue carbon concepts and opportunities that boosted support for wetland restoration.
Established in 1972, the National Estuarine Reserve System is a network of 29 special places in 24 coastal states and territories. Each Reserve is a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a U.S. state or territory. NOAA provides funding and national guidance, and Reserve-based monitoring, research, education, stewardship, and training programs provide information and services that communities need to protect people and property along the coasts.
NERRS BLUE CARBON PROJECTS
California’s Elkhorn Slough Reserve is leading a $3 million tidal marsh restoration project to reduce greenhouse gases and conduct research on changes in blue carbon that will help make future coastal marsh recovery more successful and sustainable. The work builds off of extensive local collaboration of more than 100 local partners, scientists, regulators, and community members.
