This document summarizes principles and lessons learned from wetlands and carbon projects. It discusses the importance of coastal wetlands as carbon sinks and for other ecosystem services. Key lessons include prioritizing wetland conservation, planning restoration in a landscape context, and recognizing the value of community engagement. Successful projects require a clear planning approach, understanding restoration trajectories, and linking adaptation and mitigation strategies while allowing flexibility.

1. Principles and Lessons Learned from
Wetlands and Carbon Projects
Steve Crooks Ph.D.
Climate Change Program Manager
Environmental Science Associates
Best Practice Principles for
Coastal Wetland Carbon Projects
Side Event
Indonesia Pavilion, COP 20, Lima
December, 9th 2014
Jim Fourqurean

3. Contents
• Why measure C stocks?
• Field Campaign Planning
• Sampling Soils
• Sampling Vegetation
• Estimating Emissions
• Remote Sensing and
Mapping
• Data Management
BlueCarbonInitiative.org

4. Ecosystem services of Coastal Blue Carbon
ecosystems: mangroves, seagrass and
marshes
• Biological diversity
• Water quality
• Flood and storm protection
• Forest and non-timber forest products
• Aesthetic and ecotourism values
• Fish and Shellfish
• Carbon Sinks

5. Distribution of carbon in coastal ecosystems
5
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Seagrasses
Tidal
Salt
Marsh
Estuarine
Mangroves
Oceanic
Mangroves
All
Tropical
Forests
Mean
soil
organic
carbon
Mean
living
biomass
Soil-­‐Carbon
Values
for
First
Meter
of
Depth
Only
(Total
Depth
=
Several
Meters)
tCO2e per Hectare, Global Averages
Data summarized in Crooks et al., 2011; Murray et al., 2011, Donato et al., 2011, Fourqurean et al 2013

6. 5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Tall Medium Dwarf Shrimp pond Mean Mangrove
Carbon stock (CO2e Mg/ha)
CARBON STOCKS OF NEOTROPICAL MANGROVES ARE
AMONG THE LARGEST OF ALL TROPICAL FORESTS
Ecosystem C stocks in CO2e, Republica Dominicana 2012
Kauffman et al. 2013)
Abovegrd
belowgd plant
Downed Wood
0-15
15-30
30-50
50-100
>100

8. Coastal Blue Carbon Ecosystems
8
Mangroves
Tidal Marshes
Seagrass
Forest
Peatland

9. Best Practice Principles for Delivering
Coastal Wetland Carbon Projects
• Overarching principles
• Connects experience:
– Wetland landscape restoration
– Carbon projects
– Carbon policy
– Community engagement
• Demonstration Projects
– Scaling up
– Linking adaptation and mitigation
– Avoid pitfalls
• Intended audience:
– Technical (summary messages for policy)

10. Project team
• Steve Crooks PhD – Restoration Practice / Science
• Igino Emmer PhD – Carbon Projects, Protocols
• Moritz von Unger PhD – Carbon Projects, Legal
• Ben Brown – Community Restoration
• Daniel Murdiyarso PhD –Forestry / Peatland Science
• Michelle Orr PE – Large-scale Restoration Planning

11. Reviewers
• Verified Carbon Standard
• Ministry for Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia
• Duke University
• Scientific and Technical Review Panel of Ramsar
• Ramsar Secretariat
• UNEP
• Conservation International
• UNEP-WCMC
• Forest Carbon Markets and Communities Program

12. Report Content
1. Introduction
2. State of Knowledge on Coastal Blue Carbon
3. Lessons Learned from Prior Projects
Wetlands Conservation and Restoration
Carbon Project Development
Community Engagement
4. Planning a Blue Carbon Project

13. Field Missions

14. The Learning Curve
1. Recognize value of coastal wetlands
2. Build experience in conservation & restoration projects
3. Establish multi-use functional landscape
4. Incorporated climate change adaptation (sea level rise)
5. Account for GHG emissions and removals.

15. Key Lessons
• Wetland conservation offers greatest benefits
• Highest GHG benefit, protect services, avoid engineering costs
• Restoration of wetlands often technically feasible
• Poor project planning cause of failure
• Need for technology transfer and capacity building
• Planning should incorporate sea level rise adaptation
• tools exist
• Link adaptation and mitigation
• Community and national capacity required for success
• No rigid template for blue carbon interventions

16. Mangroves / marshes occupy elevations above
mid tide elevation

17. Lewis III & Brown, 2014

18. Plant mangroves in appropriate locations and
they will thrive
Premavera et al., 2012

19. Common mistake in coastal planning…
Subsided
drained former
mangroves.
Attempt to afforest mudflats.
Not account for impacts of sea level rise.
Increases long term vulnerability.
Former
mangrove edge.
Now hard edge
Temptation to plant
mangroves on mudflat

20. Restore, but plan for the future

21. Lessons from Conservation and
Restoration Planning
1. Have a clear and coherent planning approach
2. Plan conservation and restoration in the wider landscape context
3. Prioritize sites (not all are suitable)
4. Restore physical processes and ecosystem dynamics
5. Recognize the value of project design and engineering
6. Understand the restoration trajectory and ecological thresholds
7. Conserve and restore ecosystems sooner rather than later
8. Restoration of historic conditions is not always possible
9. Avoid transplantation of non-indigenous species
10. Be patient

22. Lessons learnt from carbon projects
1. Assume ownership of the project
2. Choose and demarcate the site(s) carefully
3. Choose the project standard and project delivery cycle
4. Access the market early
5. Link the project to other finance options
6. Check the costs and prepare for economies of scale

23. Lessons from community engagement
1. Invest in pre-project community capacity building
• E.g. Field schools
2. Build capacity within government
• National support
• Subnational support
3. Meet in the middle
• Train exensionists,
• stakeholder communication
4. Establish livelihoods programs

24. Steps in Blue Carbon Project Planning
1. Define project concept and perform preliminary feasibility
assessment.
2. Define target market and select a carbon standard
3. Establish effective community engagement
4. Design project activities
5. Assess permanence risk and develop mitigation strategy
6. Secure project development finance and structure agreements
7. Provide for legal due diligence and assess carbon rights
8. Provide for social and environmental impacts assessment
9. Maintain ongoing liaison with regulators.

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Stephen Crooks
Climate Change Program Manager
Environmental Science Associate
+1 415 272 3916
SCrooks@esassoc.com