Poster Australian Marine Sciences Association 2022

Blue Carbon wetlands, assessing feasibility for future project sites in South Australia (#534)

Alice Howie 1 , Sophie Russell 2 , Sharie Detmar 3
  1. The Nature Conservancy, Australia
  2. University of Adelaide, South Australia
  3. Department for Environment and Water, South Australia

Restoration and protection of ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems – seagrass meadows, tidal marshes and mangrove forests – hold considerable potential for reducing global emissions. Within Australia, the new blue carbon methodology enables carbon credits to be generated under Australia’s Emission Reduction Fund (ERF), through the reintroduction of tidal flows. A high-level site feasibility analysis was conducted for the South Australian coastline to identify and prioritise prospective sites for future blue carbon projects. This project seeks to: (1) Assess where coastal wetlands will retreat under sea level rise scenarios for 2050 and 2100; (2) Identify any potential blockages to tidal flows in a given wetland system; and (3) Analyse potential blue carbon wetlands on the basis of land tenure, wetland size, land-use type and potential co-benefits, to rank prospective sites. Mapping outcomes from this study will assist in the identification and prioritisation of potentially eligible blue carbon project sites, suitable for reintroduction of tidal flows.