MBIE blue carbon Aotearoa New Zealand
Carbon sequestration via Aotearoa’s estuarine environments: Implications for greenhouse gas budgets
Tidal Research leads a national Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Smart Idea project to quantify carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions from Aotearoa New Zealand’s estuarine environments. Project partners include the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the University of Waikato, the University of Auckland and the Patuharakeke te iwi trust board. This project aims to produce research and guidelines to help inform the sustainable management of blue carbon habitats in the face of impacts such as sea level rise and sedimentation.
Background
There is increasing scientific and policy interest in the contribution coastal blue carbon habitats (including mangroves, saltmarshes, seagrasses and unvegetated marine sediments) can make to achieving Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. Estuarine blue carbon habitats have a high capacity to absorb and store both organic carbon entering the estuary (delivered with sediment discharged from catchments) and that produced within estuaries. However, the resulting organic carbon stores are spatially variable, driven by differences in habitat type, condition and organic carbon supply. This suggests that even small changes in habitat distribution and/or condition within an estuary could lead to large shifts in its overall carbon sequestration.
We hypothesise that a holistic approach to estuarine habitat management offers Aotearoa New Zealand a significant and previously overlooked opportunity to meaningfully contribute towards national GHG emission reduction targets (enhancing carbon sequestration whilst improving the health and sustainability of these ecosystems).
Photo: Collection of sediment cores at Takahiwai, Whangarei.
Project status
Final MBIE reporting and development of guidance document.
Outputs
Bulmer R. H., Sinclair-Stewart P., Lam-Gordillo O., Mangan S., Schwendenmann L., Lundquist C. J. (2024). Blue carbon habitats in Aotearoa New Zealand—opportunities for conservation, restoration, and carbon sequestration. Restoration Ecology e14225. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14225
Sinclair-Stewart P. J., Bulmer R. H., Macpherson E., Lundquist C. J. (2024). Enabling coastal blue carbon in Aotearoa New Zealand: Opportunities and challenges. Frontiers in Marine Science 11:1290107. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1290107
