boundary layer

with the climate crisis reaching new levels of visibility and urgency this summer, ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems like mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass meadows and kelp forests offer humanity – and the oceans – a lifeline. beyond their immense value to people as coastal storm barriers and to marine life as nurseries and larders, mangrove ecosystems and the diverse range of life within them offer vast carbon capture and storage potential. mangroves have traditionally been lost to shrimp aquaculture farms, coastal development, road building and felling for firewood – with Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand losing 50% or more of their mangroves between the 1970s and the early 2000s. with the world now waking up to their value, there are signs the rate of destruction is slowing.

beyond protecting mangroves, we are also finding some success in restoring them. as a new report published today highlights, “the full return of ‘highly restorable’ areas could restore or stabilize carbon equivalent to over 1.3 gigatons of C02 into the atmosphere – equivalent to over three years of emissions for a country such as Australia, or the avoided burning of three billion barrels of oil. the halting of ongoing losses will similarly produce massive benefits in terms of emissions avoided.”

with the protection, preservation and restoration of these vital coastal ecosystems high on the agenda, Chris caught up with Steven Canty of the Smithsonian’s Marine Station and Working Land and Seascapes team to learn more

+ + +

read the interview on Parley for the Oceans