Mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal marshes have long benefited coastal communities and fisheries, and in recent years have been recognised internationally for their significant capacity to sequester and store carbon, that is ‘Blue Carbon’. These Blue Carbon ecosystems are critical along the world's coasts, supporting coastal water quality, healthy fisheries, and providing protection against floods and storms.
IORA is committed to the protection and conservation of mangroves through the IORA Indian Ocean Blue Carbon Hub that aims to build knowledge and capacity relevant to protecting and restoring Blue Carbon ecosystems, including mangrove ecosystems. A key activity to be implemented by the Hub is a set of short ‘think tank’ meetings that will target the most promising areas for accelerated action.
The first ‘think tank’ meeting on blue carbon finance was hosted in February 2020 in Mauritius, and the second is planned to be held in Bangladesh. The “Early Career Visiting Scientist” programme is another initiative of the Hub, which has provided another opportunity for Member States to participate. In addition, Madagascar also hosted a workshop on “Improving knowledge for research on blue carbon in the Western Indian Ocean: Focus on seagrass and mangrove ecosystems” in May 2019.
In view of sharing knowledge and information on IORA’s initiative on blue carbon, the forthcoming webinar will enable speakers/experts to exchange information and knowledge on current developments on Blue Carbon.
Speakers:
Mr Andre Share- Coordinator of the IORA Working Group on the Blue Economy (WGBE)
Dr Andy Steven- Director of Coastal Development & Management Programme, CSIRO
Dr Mat Vanderklift – Director, IORA Blue Carbon Hub; Blue Carbon Expert, CSIRO, Australia
Cdr Ahmad Al Karim, (H-1), BN – Director, Maritime Affairs Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
Gildas Todinanahary - Teacher-researcher, Institute of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, University of Toliara, Madagascar
Moderator:
Dr Andreas A. Hutahaean- Ocean and Blue Carbon Expert, CMMAI, Indonesia
The aim of the webinar is to share knowledge and information on current development on blue carbon in the IORA Region. The specific objectives are to:
Provide a virtual platform where relevant stakeholders can discuss opportunities and challenges related to conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems; Share information on the current initiatives of IORA and the IORA Blue Carbon Hub; Share experiences and information on the outcomes and follow-up actions of previous IORA blue carbon events;Increase awareness of the protection and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems; Explore the way forward to further advance development of this initiative; Increase visibility of IORA and on its Blue Carbon initiatives.
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