The importance of restoring marine and coastal environments for carbon credits. Seagrass restoration as a Natural Climate Solution strategy to mitigate Climate change.
Author: Samir Khader. October 2022.
Mangrove forests, seaweed beds, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows are critical marine ecosystems situated through the coastline with globally significant carbon sinks (Blue Carbon). These ecosystems are responsible for absorbing a good chunk of human emissions and promoting life simultaneity. They are lined with engineering species that build a protective barrier defending coastal land from flooding, storm surge and erosion by attenuating waves and reducing property damage and human harm.
Seagrasses are flowering plants (Angiosperms) and one of the world’s most potent and efficient carbon sinks but also one of the most threatened habitats. They are essential components of marine and estuarine life in Australia, shielding coastal land in many areas.
The most extensive and diverse seagrass meadow in the world is in West Australia. There, species have different sizes, morphology, productivity, reproduction, and growth dynamics related to the environment. Recent studies show a single seagrass clone more than 4000 years old covers 180 km in Shark Bay and is considered the largest and one of the oldest organisms on Earth (Edgeloe et al., 2022).
These habitats are essential nursery areas attracting marine life along the Queensland coast, compounding the main diet for dugongs, green turtles, and juvenile fish. The 15 different species extend from Cape York to the Gold Coast. Moreton Bay, in southeast Queensland, is recognised in the RAMSAR as an Internationally and nationally important wetland for its unique biodiversity.
The planet has lost a quarter of its seagrass habitats in decades. It is still happening due to the pressure from several human activities such as coastal development, pollution, sewage outfalls, commercial and recreational activities, coastal overharvesting, climate change and more. Consequently, it will lead to ecological and socio-economic consequences, reducing marine life diversity. There is a prediction for marine heatwaves and extreme climate events to increase globally, and the collapse and mortality of the seagrass services are unavoidable, resulting in the potential loss of atmospheric CO2 sequestration.
Seagrass meadows have the strength for carbon credit financial mechanisms. Using blue carbon hotspots for restoration can provide several benefits per area, including climate change mitigation. The conservation and protection of ecosystems with carbon sink function are among the cheapest, safest, and most straightforward solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote adaptation to climate change.
Natural climate solutions are vital to any sustainable strategy to mitigate the climate emergency. It offers nations a robust set of choices to deliver the Paris Agreement commitments, improving soil productivity, enhancing biodiversity, and cleaning our air and water. It can increase carbon storage and minimise greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously, which is a promising pathway with significant capacity for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Restoration of seagrass areas could be an excellent solution to reverse this problem. It involves improving environmental conditions (water quality) to encourage natural recovery or affect seeding, transplanting seeding, or mature plants from donor meadows. Revegetation projects effectively restore seagrass carbon sequestration in a short, manageable timescale. Nonetheless, only 30% of transplantation efforts have been successful, confirming that programmes should proceed with careful consideration.
Coastal planning and climate change adaptation strategies must consider the capacity of seagrass habitats to act as CO2 sinks and their ability to protect the coast against erosion, and sea-level rise, reduce wave action and enhance biodiversity simultaneously (Duarte et al., 2005/2013).
Adopting conservation actions to improve seagrass resilience must be in place locally to achieve multiple U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15) and targets. The urgency is for both the management and protection of seagrass habitats so that in the future, humans can live in harmony with the natural environments.
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