PROFILE

Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab (BCL) offers innovative research solutions for helping to mitigate climate change and improve natural capital, while also contributing to jobs, economic growth, capacity building and community wellbeing.

OUR WORK

Blue carbon has become one of the most sought-after natural solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Nevertheless, there are major science hurdles that must be overcome. BCL’s aim is to deliver the transformational research to enable widespread implementation of blue carbon projects within Australia and beyond.

Blue carbon ecosystems (seagrass meadows, tidal marshes and mangrove forests) are among the most efficient carbon sinks; however, these ecosystems are declining globally. Because of their ability to capture CO2, there is an increasing recognition of their role in climate change mitigation, and consequently, a growing demand to incorporate blue carbon into national greenhouse gas accounts.

SAPPHIRE IMPACT

BCL’s Queensland Blue program seeks to restore vast areas of coastal wetlands to drawdown carbon and help reduce runoff and pollution to the Great Barrier Reef. BCL has identified seagrass meadows the size of Switzerland surrounding the reef that are drawing down carbon, and thereby helping to reduce the impact of climate change on the reef, as well as opportunities to restore and create mangrove and saltmarsh ecosystems at scale throughout the Great Barrier Reef catchment. 

This important research will create new societal and financial impetus for restoration and protection of coastal ecosystems at scale, thereby providing an innovative approach to securing the health of the Great Barrier Reef.