Seagrass Restoration in Virginia, United States

Women-Led Mangrove Conservation in Papua New Guinea

Community Socioeconomic Resilience in the Gulf of California

Sustainable Shrimp Farming & Mangrove Conservation in Indonesia

Strengthening Mangrove Management in Kenya

Coastal Restoration and Sustainable Financing in Australia

In the last 100 years, many of Australia’s coastal wetlands have been drained and converted for agriculture, livestock grazing, and development. With sea levels in parts of the country expected to rise by as much as 1 meter in the coming decades, the need to transition to blue carbon-based economies and to increase coastal community resilience against the effects of climate change is clear.

In 2022, the Australian Government approved the use of a new method under their emissions reduction fund that will enable carbon credits to be generated from the restoration of blue carbon ecosystems. This has unlocked financial opportunities for large-scale restoration of tidal wetland ecosystems.

TNC Australia and partners are now piloting mangrove and saltmarsh restoration projects in South Australia and Queensland to help mitigate the impacts of climate change and test blue carbon as a viable natural climate solution.

Importantly, these projects would increase coastal biodiversity and habitat for fish and migratory birds like red knots, who after a long flight south, finally touch down on Australia’s shores. Australia is one of the places where flocks of red knots settle in to escape the winter of the northern hemisphere.

As climate change intensifies the degradation of coasts around the world, we need to rapidly scale up mangrove, seagrass, and saltmarsh restoration and protection efforts to protect these critical ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

Without this, the near-threatened red knots – and countless other species – will continue to lose their habitat. Thankfully, there’s hope in blue carbon.