Blue carbon - what is it, where is it and why is it important?

Blue carbon is going to be key in fighting the climate crisis.

Blue carbon describes organic carbon stored in marine ecosystems. Mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses are important ecosystems containing blue carbon, as they capture carbon in their soils and vegetation. They also contribute to a wide range of other ecosystem services, such as habitat for fisheries and biodiversity, protection from floods and extreme storm events, and improvement of water quality.

The removal and degradation of these ecosystems has resulted in carbon dioxide emissions, loss of carbon capture capacity and reduced coastal protection, in turn reducing the resilience of coasts to climate change. This month at BrisScience, learn how conserving and restoring mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses can provide opportunities to enhance both carbon capture and climate change adaptation, among other tangible benefits for communities.

This is a free streamed event using Zoom webinar. Registration is essential and numbers are limited. You do not need to create a Zoom account to attend this webinar, although we recommend downloading the Zoom app. 
Only one registration per device is needed. For example, if two people are watching from the one computer, you should only register one booking. 

Watch the recording

Recording of "Blue carbon - what is it, where is it and why is it important?" talk (YouTube, 44min)

Meet the presenter

Professor Catherine Lovelock is from the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland. Her research focuses on climate change and its impacts on coastal plant communities, as well as the role of coastal wetlands in adaptation and climate change mitigation or ‘Blue Carbon’.

She is a member of the International Scientific Blue Carbon Working Group of The Blue Carbon Initiative. She leads Australian and international projects focused on climate change adaptation, carbon sequestration and restoration of mangroves. She is lead author for the Wetlands chapter for the 2019 refinement of the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and the 2020 Australian Research Councils Georgina Sweet Laureate Fellow.