Assessing the feasibility of blue carbon projects in the Mediterranean

Implementation

Mediterranean

January 2023 – June 2023

Official project name

Mediterranean Focused Feasibility Assessment

Affiliation project

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Financing

Coordinator(s)

Partner(s)

Project background

The importance of blue carbon ecosystems

‘Blue carbon’ coastal ecosystems are environments that act as carbon sinks by trapping and storing large amounts of carbon. Mangroves, seagrass beds and intertidal marshes are the main ecosystems covered by this definition.

As such, they have a crucial role to play in the fight against climate change, on top of the many ecosystem services they offer.

Project background

The BCAF wishes to finance blue carbon projects in the Mediterranean

The Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund (BCAF), established by the Australian state and the IUCN, is a funding programme aimed at increasing the conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems in order to mitigate the effects of climate change, adapt to it, improve biodiversity and strengthen the resilience of coastal communities.

To meet these objectives, the BCAF offers support to project managers who have projects ready to implement but require funding to do so, and to existing projects that can demonstrate measurable benefits. It also provides access to technical advice, networks to facilitate collaboration, and opportunities for future funding.

To start with, the BCAF was dedicated to funding mangrove conservation. Then in 2023, its coordinators began looking at the possibility of using the fund to support broader blue carbon ecosystem conservation and restoration projects across the Mediterranean, including those intended to protect Posidonia, Zostera and Cymodocea seagrass meadows and salt marshes.

The majority of Mediterranean countries need initial support to devise and develop carbon blue projects and to foster the conditions required to implement them successfully.

Our achievements

Study of the potential of blue carbon projects in the Mediterranean

Working under an IUCN mandate, BlueSeeds carried out a study of the needs and constraints associated with developing blue carbon ecosystem conservation and restoration projects in nine countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean.

For each country, BlueSeeds analysed existing projects, the political and legal context, and financial and governance requirements, and advised the BCAF on the extent to which the countries concerned had the capacity to support blue carbon ecosystem conservation. BlueSeeds identified what kinds of initial supports all nine countries need to start up blue carbon projects and foster the conditions required to implement them successfully.

BlueSeeds will continue working with the IUCN with a view to identifying ways of channeling BCAF funds to address established needs in the southern and eastern Mediterranean.

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