Blue Carbon A-Z: from small projects to policy development

Miguel Cifuentes
Publié: 10 août 2015
Dernière modification: 08 février 2023
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Résumé

Blue Carbon is still a new concept that needs the right facilitation to kick-start projects and promote blue carbon actions. CATIE undertakes relevant steps to facilitate the development of sound scientific and political frameworks: carbon stock inventories, livelihoods and vulnerability studies, assessment of land-use dynamics and associated historical emissions, facilitation of policy development and promotion of capacities across the Central and Latin American region.

Classifications

Région
Amérique centrale
Amérique du Sud
Caraïbes
Ampleur de la mise en œuvre
Intranational
Local
Multinational
National
Ecosystème
Mangrove
Écosystèmes marins et côtiers
Thème
Acteurs locaux
Adaptation au changement climatique
Atténuation du changement climatique
Cadre juridique et politique
Financement durable
Gestion des bassins versants
Gestion des espaces côtiers et marins
Gestion des terres
Moyens d'existence durables
Planification spatiale terrestre
Science et recherche
Services écosystèmiques
Îles
Autre thème
Policy development
Défis
Hausse des températures
Dégradation des terres et des forêts
Perte de biodiversité
Montée du niveau des mers
Ondes de tempêtes
Cyclones tropicaux / typhons
Tsunami/Raz-de-marée
Utilisations conflictuelles / impacts cumulatifs
Érosion
Perte de l'écosystème
Pollution (y compris eutrophisation et déchets)
Récolte non durable, y compris la surpêche
Extraction de ressources matérielles
Manque de capacités techniques
Manque de sensibilisation du public et des décideurs
Objectifs de développement durable
ODD 13 - Mesures relatives à la lutte contre les changements climatiques
ODD 14 - Vie aquatique
ODD 15 - Vie terrestre
Objectifs d’Aichi
Objectif 1: Sensibilisation accrue de la biodiversité
Objectif 5: Perte d'habitat réduite de moitié ou diminuée
Objectif 7: Agriculture, aquaculture et sylviculture durable
Objectif 10: Ecosystèmes vulnérables au changement climatique
Objectif 11: Aires protégées et conservées
Objectif 14: Services des écosystèmes
Objectif 15: Restauration et la résilience des écosystèmes
Objectif 17: Stratégies de la biodiversité et des plans d'action
Cadre de Sendai
2: Réduire nettement, d’ici à 2030, le nombre de personnes touchées par des catastrophes.
3: Réduire, d’ici à 2030, les pertes économiques directes dues aux catastrophes en proportion du produit intérieur brut (PIB).
4: Réduire nettement, d’ici à 2030, la perturbation des services de base et les dommages causés par les catastrophes aux infrastructures essentielles, y compris les établissements de santé ou d’enseignement, notamment en renforçant leur résilience.

Emplacement

Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica | All of Central America, Caribbean and northern South America (Colombia & Ecuador)

Défis

Limited knowledge and guidance for blue carbon project design and implementation. Despite increasing interest in blue carbon, limited guidance is available for project developers and countries to design and implement initiatives that can offer climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits while delivering improved livelihoods to coastal communities. CATIE addresses these needs through a cohesive package of scientific research and political advising throughout the Americas.

Bénéficiaires

Governments and greenhouse gas inventorying, reporting and verification institutions

Comment les blocs constitutifs interagissent-ils entre eux dans la solution?

Building blocks can operate in concert at the local and national scales. Local carbon inventories (building block 1) and geospatial modeling (building block 3), together with livelihoods and vulnerability assessments (building block 2) provide information to prioritize site selection and inform national decision-making. Local people and government technicians can be recruited and trained so their capacities are enhanced and their experiences can be scaled up. At the national level, the development of national policy frameworks (building block 5) allow for the inclusion of blue carbon elements in national emissions accounting and budgeting, mitigation and adaptation plans, restoration strategies, national forest inventories, and REDD+ and MRV. In addition, economic valuation data (building block 4) are needed for designing financial mechanisms that will allow for potential funds transfers to promote local conservation and enhance local development. Furthermore, the integration of these building blocks across the Americas is designed to promote a regional network of blue carbon scientists and practitioners, policies and projects that integrate mitigation and adaptation goals while promoting local development (building block 6).

Impacts

Social: In the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, people from local organizations see their capacities enhanced and they are further empowered to conserve mangrove resources through a better understanding of their importance for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Economic: We provided the first ever estimate of (mangrove) natural capital loss due to mangrove area losses in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Ecological: The Government of El Salvador committed to doubling by 2016 the area of mangrove forests under sustainable management plans due to blue carbon interventions started in 2014.

Histoire

CATIE is leading blue carbon science and policy development across Central America. We started with small carbon inventory projects in Costa Rica, which have now been replicated in Panama, El Salvador and Honduras. Other building blocks were later incorporated into our implementation package as further interest in blue carbon was promoted. A recent project in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, exemplifies the integration of many of the building blocks described in the solution. We partnered with Conservation International to develop a participatory project that would involve mangrove restoration, capacity building of local organizations and people ranging from school age to adults, a livelihoods assessment, a climate change vulnerability study coupled with proposed local adaptation strategies, valuation of ecosystem services, and ecosystem-level carbon inventories. In parallel, we are facilitating the development of a blue carbon strategy and action plan for the country, which will be part of the larger National Wetlands Policy statement that the Government of Costa Rica is developing. Results from this and previous projects have been showcased in the local news and social media, which has triggered interest in blue carbon in the country and elsewhere in Central America. This has led most countries in the region to recognize the importance of mangrove forests as critical sinks of carbon and include them as separate strata in their national forest inventories and REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) MRV (measurement reporting and verification) plans. It is inspiring to see how something that started as a small pilot research project in a protected area in Costa Rica has fueled dialogues across Central America, Mexico, and even as far south as Ecuador, and now has the potential to serve as the basis for much larger scientific and political collaborations. We still face challenges related to project design (i.e. good practice guidelines and standardized international standards and methodologies) and implementation (i.e. ensuring projects can deliver social benefits, increase resilience of coastal communities, and enhance local livelihoods) but we are confident that funding streams and further international support will allow us to continue delivering the best quality blue carbon solutions in Central and South America.

Contribué par

Portrait de mcifuentes@catie.ac.cr

Miguel Cifuentes-Jara Tropical Agriculture and Higher Education Center (CATIE)

Autres contributeurs

Tropical Agriculture and Higher Education Center (CATIE)