News archive

Nations recognize ocean conservation as a measure to combat climate changeIn a surprising decision at last week’s meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), ocean conservation was supported as a measure to combat climate change.Endorsed by 41 of 71...

by Maria Belen Vallejo

Mounting scientific evidence is showing how Earth’s largest organisms can join forces with some of the smallest to combat climate change. This unlikely pairing is between some of the largest and tiniest life in the ocean, whales and phytoplankton. They work together...

Traveling between remote islands by dugout canoe, and trudging through muddy mangrove forests in 40-degree Celsius heat coaching fisherfolk on monitoring techniques is all in a day’s work for Madagascan marine conservationist Lalao Aigrette.Aigrette is passionate...

NAIROBI (Landscape News) — Salomão Bandeira is a marine botanist at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique, with expertise on mangrove and seagrass ecosystems.As a practitioner, Bandeira looks beyond ecology to broader issues such as community engagement in...

A self-proclaimed “ambassador for mangroves,” scientist James Kairo has been swapping between the muddy gumboots of grassroots action and the shiny shoes of high-level policy discussions for around 27 years now.As a graduate student at the University of Nairobi, Kairo...

Just 30 km south of the booming port town of Mombasa, residents of two tranquil Kenyan villages are making history.Here, amongst the mud-walled houses and coconut trees, the people of Gazi and Makongeni villages have become the world’s first communities to harness the...

Compared to other types of carbon sink, seagrass in Kenya can absorb 35 times more carbon – a fact that is helping to kick-start poverty alleviation schemes in the regionIn order to control the climate and mitigate climate change, carbon sinks are a vital part and...

The Sultanate of Oman has been planting hundreds of thousands of mangrove seedlings over the past 17 years.Historical and archaeological evidence indicates that dense mangrove woodlands covered much of Oman's coastline and islands in ancient times. Now efforts to...

The Blue Forests Project`s lead partner organization in Ecuador, Conservation International Ecuador (CI-Ecuador), has shared with us the story of the Ecuadorian coastal community of Las Huacas, a fishermen village that has fully committed to the sustainable management...

Following multiple ‘blue carbon’ related NDC submissions to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (UNFCCC), the concept continues to herald nature-based solutions to climate change and will be profiled at a number of events during UNFCCC...

As prepared for delivery.We are facing a global biodiversity crisis. The Living Planet Report estimates that we have lost 57 percent of biodiversity since 1970, and we stand to lose 68 percent by 2020. This is a crisis for all life on earth, including human life....

One success that the Blue Forests Project is particularly proud of comes through co-finance from the United Arab Emirates and the Abu Dhabi Global Data Initiative (AGEDI).In November 2012, the Abu Dhabi Blue Carbon Demonstration Project was initiated by the AGEDI and...

Following the international policy engagement of the UN Environment/GEF Blue Forests Project, we were invited last month to lead the discussions on methodologies for assessing the blue carbon storage potential of seagrasses at the 1st International Workshop on the...

The destruction we are inflicting on the oceans is shocking – but there is hope as countries step up to reverse the decline, writes IUCN’s Dorothee Herr from the UN Ocean Conference which closes in New York today. The corridors are full; side-event rooms not big...

This week government representatives and a range of other stakeholders will be meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York for the Ocean Conference, coinciding with World Oceans Day on June 8.This is a crucial opportunity to assess progress and develop...

The ocean has a secret.I am very lucky to work in the field of ocean health. I grew up in a coastal English village, and spent a lot of time looking at the sea, wondering at its secrets. Now I’m working to preserve them.The ocean, as we know, is critical to all...

Why have we asked partners to submit a Blue Carbon Code of conduct to the UN Oceans Conference?This is a non-binding Voluntary Commitment, essentially a pledge to support the development of fair, socially just and accountable blue carbon projects. Our code comes from...

Saltmarshes are extremely valuable but often overlooked blue forest ecosystems. They contribute to livelihoods locally and globally, through the associated ecosystem services they provide; including fish production, carbon storage and coastal protection. Despite their...

Have you ever needed a good blue carbon-related image but couldn’t find one? Fear no more, list of free distribution non-commercial blue carbon related images is now available!The UN Environment/GEF Blue Forests Project is developing a database of relevant images that...