The Blue Carbon National Working Group

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The Blue Carbon National Working Group (BCN) was created in 2015 to coordinate and support actions that lead to increased recognition and application of blue carbon ecosystem values to enhance management of and support for coastal wetland restoration and conservation.

Objectives:

  1. Increase communication on past, current, and planned blue carbon work at the national, regional, and local scales;
  2. Increase coordination on future blue carbon projects, including identifying funding opportunities and pilot projects; and
  3. Provide a platform for discussion of science needs, information gaps, and blue carbon priorities.

 

 

BCN Meetings and Outcomes:

The BCN first met in May 2015 and resulted in a identifying three priority recommendations for advancing blue carbon nationally:

  1. Develop a database of blue carbon storage, sequestration, and emission factors that can support landscape level carbon accounting on coastal land;
  2.  Develop pilot projects that demonstrate how to implement blue carbon projects and policy, and develop lessons learned from these actions; and
  3. Integrate blue carbon benefits into existing and emerging ecosystem service models and descriptions to more fully account for the full suite of benefits provided by these ecosystems.

Through its members, the BCN links to other blue carbon initiatives, including:

 

BCN Members/Attendee Organizations:

CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, Cape Cod National Seashore, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Conservation International, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Galveston Bay Foundation, Institute for Applied Ecology, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Restore America’s Estuaries, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Silvestrum Climate Associates, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, TerraCarbon LLC, The Nature Conservancy, The Ocean Foundation, The Water Institute of the Gulf, Tierra Resources, University of Maryland, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.G.S. Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, U.S.G.S. Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program, U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service, Verified Carbon Standard, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, WA Department of Natural Resources, and Western Washington University.

Learn more about the BCN.

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