The Blue Carbon Project - BlueCARES
The Comprehensive Assessment and Conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems and their Services in the Coral Triangle, or the BlueCARES Project, is a collaborative project focused on contributing to the conservation of coastal ecosystems and mitigation of global warming through blue carbon strategies in the Coral Triangle Region.
The Project aims to establish conservation actions through the development of a Blue Carbon Strategy in the Philippines and Indonesia. Know more about the BlueCARES Project here.
The Blue Carbon Strategy is based on the comprehensive assessment of blue carbon ecosystem services through nation-wide monitoring and change detection. These assessments, together with socioeconomic data, will be used by predictive models to select the best policy options in properly conserving blue carbon.
What is Blue Carbon?
Blue Carbon is the carbon from the atmosphere and the ocean stored in coastal and marine ecosystems. Mangrove forests, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows sequester carbon hundred times faster than terrestrial forests and store more permanently in their sediments.
Blue carbon ecosystems are widely recognized for their critical role in regulating greenhouse gas levels and in climate change mitigation. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 14 outline the importance of the sustainable management and protection of these ecosystems in order to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of countries to the drastic effects of climate change.
Know more about Blue Carbon Ecosystems here.
The Blue Carbon Strategy includes a Core-and-Network System (CNS) that aims to link institutions, agencies and citizen scientists to collaborate in their blue carbon research and work in the communities. The Blue Carbon Network (BCnet) oversees the collaborations among the partner agencies through the conduct of capacity building activities such as mangrove mapping and monitoring workshops, seagrass citizen science and formalizing partnerships. Know more about the BCnet here.
What is Citizen Science?
Citizen Science is the practice of involving members of the public in scientific research through participation and collaborations with scientists and researchers. Citizen science projects may include data collection and environmental monitoring programs.
Citizen Science lets anyone have an active role in scientific discovery. It harnesses a collective curiosity and employs common and simple technology for local citizens. This approach allows locals to work together with researchers to learn more about the local conditions in their community.
Know more about Citizen Science here.
The BlueCARES Project has also published research and other works on Blue Carbon ecosystems and the Blue Carbon Strategy. View and download data - including the Philippine Mangrove Extent Layer (2020), reports and scientific papers from our Resources library.
What's New with BlueCARES?
EVENT
NBCS 2 Announcement
The 2nd National Blue Carbon Symposium organized by the BlueCARES Project will happen on May 24 - 25, 2022. Visit the webpage to know more.
BLOG
Linking humans with blue carbon ecosystems
Social vulnerabilities of coastal communities and their reliance on blue carbon ecosystem services may be improved by addressing three major factors. A new study’s findings suggest opportunities for conservation interventions in the Philippines. Read more.