Blue forests

Blue forests

Subject :Environment

Section: Climate Change

Context: 5 “blue forests” that are vital to life on Earth.

Blue forests

• “Blue forests” are coastal and marine ecosystems, including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal salt marshes.
• They play an important role in protecting marine biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of coastal and island communities by providing habitats for fisheries, filtering water, guarding shorelines and creating opportunities for tourism and recreation.
• Blue forests also play a vital role in addressing the impacts of climate change. Such ecosystems are highly efficient in storing and sequestering atmospheric carbon in biomass and sediments, storing up to ten times as much carbon per unit area than terrestrial forests. The ability of coastal vegetation to sequester carbon is called “blue carbon.”
• The destruction of these ecosystems can release buried carbon into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide. This further contributes to climate change, and reverses the climate adaptation and mitigation benefits they provide to local communities and the world at large.

Types of Blue forest:

• Mangroves
  • Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees and shrubs which grow along coasts. They support a rich biodiversity and provide a nursery for fish and crustaceans. Mangroves also act as a form of natural coastal defence against storm surges, tsunamis, rising sea levels and erosion.
  • Every hectare of mangrove forest represents an estimated US$33–57,000 per year. They also extract up to five times more carbon from the atmosphere than forests on land.
  • Refer https://optimizeias.com/mangroves-3/
• Salt marshes
  • Salt marshes are found in bays and estuaries along tidal coastlines in parts of the world where there is low-lying land and a temperate climate. They are important nesting and feeding grounds for birds, and their shallow, brackish waters provide shelter for fish, molluscs and crustaceans.
  • Research shows that salt marshes, together with mangroves, peatlands and seagrass beds, store more carbon than all the world’s on-land forests combined.
• Seagrass meadows
  • Seagrasses are marine flowering plants found in shallow waters from the tropics to the Arctic Circle.
  • Seagrass meadows protect coasts from erosion, store carbon and contribute to food security by helping produce healthy fish stocks.
  • A powerful nature-based solution to climate change, even though they cover only 0.1 per cent of the ocean floor, seagrasses store around 18 per cent of oceanic carbon.
  • For more details https://optimizeias.com/seagrass/
• Rockweed
  • Rockweed comprises several species of macroalgae, recognizable by their air-filled bladders, which allow them to float upright at low tide.
  • It is a staple food in some societies, and it is the original source of iodine – it is now being recognized as a sustainable resource with vast economic potential as part of the blue economy.
  • Commercial ventures like rockweed farming can create new economic opportunities, particularly for women in rural communities.
• Kelp forests
  • Kelp forests are underwater ecosystems characterized by dense groupings of kelp, which are large brown algae that can grow to be several meters long.
  • These forests are found in cold, nutrient-rich waters around the world, including along the coastlines of California, Australia, South Africa, and many other regions.
  • Refer https://optimizeias.com/scientists-strive-to-restore-worlds-embattled-kelp-forests/

Blue Forest Project

• The Blue Forests Project is a global initiative focused on harnessing the values associated with coastal carbon and ecosystem services to achieve improved ecosystem management
• Project objective: promote better coastal ecosystem management by harnessing the values associated with carbon and ecosystem services.
• The project is an initiative of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is managed by GRID-Arendal on behalf of the UN Environment.
• Project sites include locations in Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Thailand, Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique, United States, and the United Arab Emirates.
• At these sites with local partners, on-the-ground activities include targeted research on carbon and ecosystem services, capacity building, and analysis of possible policy interventions.
• The project also aims to provide tools and set the stage for up-scaling and the replication of the blue forests approach around the world.