It is comprised of specialists from research centers and universities across all Spanish coastal regions. The main objectives are to provide rigorous information on blue carbon and offer solutions to help conserve and restore marshes, mangroves, and seagrass meadows. The Group is coordinated by the CSIC, specifically by a researcher from the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC).

The Group of Experts on Blue Carbon Ecosystems was established following Spain’s participation in the Blue Carbon cluster of the Joint Programming Initiative Oceans of the European Union (JPI-Oceans), to collect and facilitate rigorous and multidisciplinary information.

Currently, it consists of about thirty researchers from diverse disciplines such as biology, ecology, economics, social sciences, and public administration. From their various perspectives, they are all experts in the role of coastal vegetation as carbon sinks and their accumulation in large carbon deposits over millennia, as well as the effects of environmental changes, both natural and human-induced, on the health of these ecosystems.

The group’s objectives are:

• To foster synergies among specialists interested in blue carbon ecosystems in any of its fields (basic science, regulation, dissemination…)
• To serve as a reference for all sectors interested in having rigorous information (public sector, business sector, citizen entities, media…)
• To disseminate research projects, scientific publications, action proposals, and other milestones related to blue carbon science
• To promote coordination with similar initiatives existing at the European and international levels
• To promote the preservation of marshes and seagrass meadows both for their role as carbon sinks and for their great ecosystem value

To achieve this, the Group maintains contact with profiles from the academic, technical, political, business, non-profit sectors, and other profiles interested in the various branches of blue carbon science. It has two general coordinators and an expert reference person for each autonomous community, who are responsible for promoting these relationships and attending to information requests as they arise.

Additionally, it provides information derived from the individual or collective work of the experts forming the group and provides outreach and general interest resources on blue carbon ecosystems. This task is carried out through the Group’s web portal (acronym: G3ECA): https://g3eca.com.

What are Blue Carbon Ecosystems?

Part of the atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by forests and the ocean. They capture and retain it. In coastal areas, there are three types of ecosystems that perform this function: seagrass meadows, marshes, and mangroves. The carbon stored by this aquatic vegetation is known as “blue carbon,” in coherence with “green carbon,” which refers to the carbon captured by terrestrial plants.

Although BCEs cover less than 2% of the planet, they bury significant amounts of carbon in their sediments and retain them for thousands of years. Unlike many terrestrial ecosystems, where matter decomposes faster, in BCEs it is stored very efficiently, making them valuable biospheric carbon sinks.

Despite their small extent, they capture between 0.3 and 0.8 Gigatons of CO2 equivalent each year and are estimated to have accumulated between 10 and 25 Gigatons. To put these values in context, it is enough to note that annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions are 38 Gt, meaning BCEs remove between 0.8% and 2% of the CO2 we emit each year.

The principal coordinator of G3ECA, Miguel Ángel Mateo, a researcher from the Aquatic Macrophyte Ecology Group at CEAB-CSIC, explains that “The rate of disappearance of seagrass meadows and Mediterranean marshes is alarming, currently estimated at between 1% and 5% annually. With their loss, we not only lose the carbon burial function but also many other functions such as coastal erosion protection, water pollutant filtration, or serving as the base of marine food webs.”

Despite their great relevance, these ecosystems are among the most threatened on the planet due to human activity. Urban development, trawling, uncontrolled boat anchoring, and chemical pollution are some of these threats.

The expert adds: “The stock of carbon stored for centuries or millennia by these ecosystems is equivalent to an entire year of anthropogenic emissions, making it easy to understand the need to protect blue carbon ecosystems to prevent this stock from being remineralized and releasing all the retained CO2 back into the atmosphere.”

Scientists estimate that each year, around the planet, about 300 million tons of carbon dioxide are released due to the destruction or deterioration of blue carbon ecosystems.

The Andalusia representative of the Group, Fernando Brun, head of the Blue Carbon Unit at the University of Cádiz, explains that “Besides retaining significant amounts of carbon, marshes, mangroves, and seagrass meadows are also key ecosystems for the physical and ecological stability of our coasts, creating habitats and thereby increasing biodiversity by an order of magnitude compared to areas devoid of vegetation. Additionally, blue carbon ecosystems provide white sands and clear, healthy waters, which are key aspects for the success of the tourism sector.”

The ultimate goal of the Group is to provide the scientific, technical, social, and economic foundations to protect and restore these habitats and all the benefits they provide. It aspires to be a national reference group to which any sector of society can turn for knowledge, training, awareness-raising strategies, conservation and restoration plans, or carbon offset projects in voluntary markets.

* The institutions participating in the group are: CEAB-CSIC, Cadiz University, Vigo University, IMEDEA-CSIC, the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics (Cantabria University), the Group of Ecology of Marine Angiosperms of Murcia (IEO-CSIC), the University of Alacant, the Center for Marine and Food Research of the Basque Country (AZTI), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University , the company Global Factor (expert in carbon markets), ICM-CSIC, the company Verico SCE (expert on certification and verification), the Andalusian Climate Change Office, the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​and the expert company in carbon offset projects Allcot AG (Spain-Switzerland).

+ Info: web Grupo Español de Expertos en Ecosistemas de Carbono Azul (G3ECA)