Developing a financing model for eco-mooring zones based on carbon stocks in Posidonia seagrass meadows

Implementation

Blanes, Spain

March 2021 – September 2022

Official project name

Study of the Potential of Posidonia Oceanica Blue Carbon Eco-Mooring Projects to Avoid Anchoring-Related CO2 Emissions

Affiliation project

Co-managed No-Take Zones/MPAs: Together Towards a Resilient Mediterranean Sea

Financing

Coordinator(s)

Partner(s)

Project background

Eco-moorings: a solution to Posidonia meadow loss

More carbon is sequestered by the Mediterranean endemic plant Posidonia than by any other type of terrestrial or marine plant. These aquatic meadows reduce coastal erosion and serve as havens for biodiversity. However, a significant contributing factor to the disappearance of Posidonia is anchoring by recreational boating. Posidonia has lost 34 percent of its surface area in the past 50 years.

The best way to prevent these ecosystems from being damaged is to create ecological mooring zones that steer yachtsmen away from illegal anchoring. However, the cost of installing these infrastructures is prohibitive for local authorities. The development of a system for funding eco-moorings through the sale of credits produced by the carbon sequestered by Posidonia meadows saved from anchoring has been the focus of BlueSeeds’ research since 2019.

Our achievements

A study on the damages caused by anchoring

BlueSeeds conducted a study in 2022 aimed at developing a methodology to measure the ecological and economic value of carbon captured by those Posidonia meadows protected thanks to eco-moorings, in partnership with the Blanes Centre for Advanced Studies and the Spanish environmental consultancy Biosfera.

This study was the first of its kind in the Mediterranean since the damage caused by anchoring has never been accurately measured in the region to determine carbon loss.

Our achievements

Sampling on Posidonia meadows and analysis

BlueSeeds and Biosfera spent 7 months in Guillola Bay, located in the Cap de Creus Natural Park in Spain. We collected two types of data: inorganic and organic carbon in Posidonia meadows located on the surface and underground (sediments) as a function of water depth, and damage to Posidonia meadows caused by anchoring.

The seabed types and depth have an impact on carbon stocks. In order to estimate the total organic carbon stock of Guillola Bay, the bay was stratified into homogeneous zones based on depth and benthic habitats. From this estimate, a new modeling technique and an innovative study of the pressure and damage caused by anchoring were used to determine a preliminary result of the net loss of organic carbon resulting from anchoring.

Measuring these variables is a challenging and complex task that involves both long hours of diving to gather vegetation and sediment samples and investigate anchor damage, as well as long hours in the lab to measure stored carbon and model carbon fluxes on the scale of the ecosystem.

Given the current value of tC02 on the voluntary carbon market, the use of eco-mooring to finance the conservation of meadows is unlikely to be feasible using only the carbon credits produced by the project.

Our achievements

Results: financing potential of eco-moorings

After that, we devoted three months to data analysis and financial solvency modeling for a carbon credit-funded eco-mooring project for Posidonia conservation.

Our study’s findings were conclusive but not promising: installing an eco-buoy would sustain 18 tCO2 sequestration over a 40-year period. However, it is unlikely that financing eco-buoys with the carbon credits produced by the project alone will be feasible given the current value placed on tC02 on the voluntary carbon market.

Discover

BlueOasis, the innovative mooring area for local communities

After this study, BlueSeeds has explored the potential for co-financing the extensive installation of eco-moorings throughout the Mediterranean. We thought carefully about the future of mooring zones. Socio-economics being hard-wired into BlueSeeds’ DNA, we took our conception of eco-moorings beyond that of a conservation tool to consider how we might optimise their potential by turning them into services that generate socio-economic benefits for the local area.

Featured projects

Developing a financing model for eco-mooring zones based on carbon stocks in Posidonia seagrass meadows

Implementation

Official project name

Affiliation project

Financing

Coordinator(s)

Partner(s)

Eco-moorings: a solution to Posidonia meadow loss

A study on the damages caused by anchoring

This study was the first of its kind in the Mediterranean since the damage caused by anchoring has never been accurately measured in the region to determine carbon loss.

Sampling on Posidonia meadows and analysis

Given the current value of tC02 on the voluntary carbon market, the use of eco-mooring to finance the conservation of meadows is unlikely to be feasible using only the carbon credits produced by the project.

Results: financing potential of eco-moorings

BlueOasis, the innovative mooring area for local communities

Studying financing flows for the conservation of Mediterranean seagrass meadows

Empowering West African communities to sell blue carbon credits to finance mangrove conservation

Assessing the feasibility of blue carbon projects in the Mediterranean

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