Malaga hosted the first conference on coastal carbon sinks within the framework of the Life BlueNatura project, coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Junta de Andalucía.

Scientists, managers and other stakeholders participated in a two-day conference on the role of coastal and marine ecosystems in the absorption and retention of CO2 from the atmosphere, the so-called "Blue Carbon". This conference organized by the IUCN - Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation are part of the European project Life BlueNatura coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

The director general of Management of the Natural Environment and Protected Spaces, Javier Madrid, and the director of IUCN-Med, Antonio Troya, have attended the inauguration of the conference.

"It is necessary to create a collective consciousness about the blue carbon potential of our coastal and marine ecosystems and to work with local populations to jointly understand how the environment can be a solution and not a problem in the fight against climate change" Commented Javier Madrid.

"We are increasingly aware that the oceans are an important carbon sink, they absorb heat and produce half the oxygen we breathe. The LIFE Posidonia Andalucía project is an innovative project that will help improve knowledge about the role of wetlands, Marshes and seagrasses of the Mediterranean coast in the absorption and retention of greenhouse gases" has added Antonio Troya.

Dan Laffoley, an expert on the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, gave a presentation on the situation of blue carbon in an international context and commented that "Marine Protected Areas function as sentinel sites of global warming by acting as carbon sinks and through the maintenance of biodiversity".

The "Conservation of coastal carbon sinks" conference was held on November 21st and 22nd, 2016 at La Térmica in Malaga and aimed at examining current knowledge on coastal and marine ecosystems in the face of climate change, both from an ecological and socio-economic perspectives. Projects and experiences that illustrate various aspects of governance, carbon markets, and the knowledge and value of the services provided by these marine and coastal ecosystems to local populations were made available.

LIFE Blue Natura (2015-2019) is a European project whose main objective is to know and quantify blue carbon sinks of seagrass and coastal wetlands in Andalusia and to evaluate the environmental services they provide using tools and policies related to climate change. The project has an overall budget of € 2,513,792, funded by the European LIFE Program and co-financed by CEPSA.

For more information: Mar Otero

Photo: Posidonia oceanica- © Mar Otero