The Blue Carbon Conservation, Restoration and Accounting Program will help pave the way for scaling up investment in coastal blue carbon ecosystems, support management decisions, and contribute to global goals for climate and the environment.
$30.6 million will be invested from 2021 to 2025 to implement on-ground blue carbon restoration and conservation activities in Australia and overseas, apply project-level Environmental Economic Accounting to demonstrate how restoration and conservation activities lead to climate, biodiversity and livelihood outcomes, and enhance collaborations and knowledge exchange in Australia and across the region.
Key Program Elements
Blue Carbon Restoration and Accounting in Australia
Funding restoration activities and environmental-economic accounting for at least four demonstration projects in Australia. The projects will represent a variety of ecosystem types (including mangroves, seagrass and tidal marshes) and socio-economic characteristics, and will demonstrate the financial values of ecosystems services and the biodiversity benefits resulting from blue carbon ecosystem restoration. Demonstration projects will be selected through the Blue Carbon Ecosystem Restoration Grants.
Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund
The Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund supports readiness and implementation activities for blue carbon restoration and conservation projects in countries outside Australia. These projects will demonstrate and enable measurement of climate, biodiversity and livelihood benefits, enhancing the business case for private sector investment in coastal blue carbon ecosystems.
Community of Practice and International Partnerships
Supporting knowledge exchange and collaborations between researchers, project managers and policy makers through the International Partnership for Blue Carbon (IPBC) and by establishing a blue carbon restoration and accounting community of practice. Australia is also supporting the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership to build ocean accounting capability internationally and deliver environmental economic accounting for projects under the Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund .