Comox Valley Project Watershed Blue Carbon Project
Presentation Abstract
Carbon valuation of aquatic ecosystems is an important tool that can both mitigate for and adapt to climate change. Estuary ecosystems play an important role in climate change as well as watershed and community health, and are located where coastal communities thrive. Of the many important functions of estuaries are the cycling and sequestration of carbon in sediments. A staggering 55% of all living carbon is cycled in the ocean and 50- 70% of that is stored via estuary vegetation and sediments. Despite this, estuary habitats have only recently been explored as an option for carbon offsets in British Columbia. Crucial to the development of a carbon offset system that uses eelgrass and salt marsh conservation and restoration is the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society (“Project Watershed”). Project Watershed is a non-profit group on Vancouver Island that is applying a scientific approach combined with volunteer resources to collect carbon data in the eelgrass and saltmarsh habitats of the K’omoks Estuary. This data will contribute to carbon offset models that will form the framework for a province-wide Blue Carbon Protocol. To accomplish this, Project Watershed has gained the support of the Province of BC and Vancouver Island University through a Memorandum of Understanding. Together this partnership will work towards the restoration and conservation of these important ecosystems and the values they provide, while ensuring communities benefit through education opportunities and climate change adaptation.
Session Title
Session S-03F: Tools for Assessment and Implementation
Conference Track
Planning Assessment & Communication
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2014 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
30-4-2014 3:30 PM
End Date
30-4-2014 5:00 PM
Location
Room 602-603
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Eelgrass--British Columbia--Vancouver Island; Coastal ecology--British Columbia--Vancouver Island; Carbon--Absorption and adsorption; Ocean acidification
Geographic Coverage
Vancouver Island (B.C.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Comox Valley Project Watershed Blue Carbon Project
Room 602-603
Carbon valuation of aquatic ecosystems is an important tool that can both mitigate for and adapt to climate change. Estuary ecosystems play an important role in climate change as well as watershed and community health, and are located where coastal communities thrive. Of the many important functions of estuaries are the cycling and sequestration of carbon in sediments. A staggering 55% of all living carbon is cycled in the ocean and 50- 70% of that is stored via estuary vegetation and sediments. Despite this, estuary habitats have only recently been explored as an option for carbon offsets in British Columbia. Crucial to the development of a carbon offset system that uses eelgrass and salt marsh conservation and restoration is the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society (“Project Watershed”). Project Watershed is a non-profit group on Vancouver Island that is applying a scientific approach combined with volunteer resources to collect carbon data in the eelgrass and saltmarsh habitats of the K’omoks Estuary. This data will contribute to carbon offset models that will form the framework for a province-wide Blue Carbon Protocol. To accomplish this, Project Watershed has gained the support of the Province of BC and Vancouver Island University through a Memorandum of Understanding. Together this partnership will work towards the restoration and conservation of these important ecosystems and the values they provide, while ensuring communities benefit through education opportunities and climate change adaptation.
