Parallel Discussion Forum

Coastal Blue Carbon stored in mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses ecosystems are highly at risk due to conversions, industry, aquaculture and infrastructure development. Payment mechanisms to keep carbon in these habitats may help to reverse this the loss. Financing options for coastal blue carbon may range from bilateral to multilateral arrangements. This session explores project eligibility for blue carbon payment considering the unique attributes of these assets.

A coastal region is an area where land meets the sea or ocean, and includes very sensitive coastal ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs), complex estuaries as well as unique topographies such as bay areas or semi-enclosed seas. Therefore, hydrodynamic processes play an important role in resources distribution, marine biota community structures, material exchanges in coastal waters, pollutant dispersion and coastline changes.

Potential discussion topics:

• Waves, sediment transport and coastal changes
• Tidal currents, residual currents and material distribution
• Ocean energy in the coastal zone (wind, wave, tidal wave, ocean current)

Despite Indonesia being recognized as having seagrass ecosystems with some of the greatest diversity in the world, the sustainability and management of these ecosystems receive relatively little attention. Many critical and significant roles of seagrass such as carbon sequestration and storage, the stabilization of sustainable artisanal fisheries and other services need to be explored further.

Potential discussion topics:

• Seagrass meadows: below-water treasures and their ecosystem services
• Carbon sequestration and storage by seagrass
• Seagrass in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Paris Agreement
• Seagrass and the local economy