NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon

2020 Accomplishments

Strengthened Policy and Research Partnerships

Coastal salt marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds are incredibly efficient at capturing and 

storing large quantities of carbon – referred to as “coastal blue carbon.” NOAA’s coastal blue carbon 

activities are a collaborative effort across NOAA, including the National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS/Fisheries), National Ocean Service (NOS), and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 

(OAR/Research) offices.

For additional Information, visit oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/ | Page 1

○ The NOAA Research Climate Program Office signed an interagency agreement with the Department of State to support 

Transparency through Emissions Accounting and Reporting for Wetlands. Through this agreement, NOAA will work 

closely with other agencies, international organizations and partner countries to advance the integration of coastal 

wetlands in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. 

○ NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation supported Restore America’s Estuaries and The Nature Conservancy with 

carbon offset project documentation and validation at a seagrass restoration site at the Virginia Coastal Reserve.

○ The National Sea Grant College Program continued to support blue carbon-focused scientific and policy research. One 

such effort resulted in Carbon Market Opportunities in Virginia, a report from the Virginia Coastal Policy Center in 

partnership with Virginia Sea Grant.

Increased Awareness of Progress and Opportunities

○ The NMFS/NOS/OAR collaborative effort sustained a NOAA Coastal Blue 

Carbon Community of Practice, including an email distribution list for 

information sharing across agency programs. In July, a virtual meeting was 

held for this community of practice which featured presentations from recent 

Sea Grant-supported research projects in Washington, Louisiana, and the 

Delmarva region.

○ NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation continued to support Restore 

America’s Estuaries Blue Carbon Buzz and other blue carbon community of 

practice efforts. 

○ NOAA Sea Grant published a new topical webpage to highlight Sea Grant 

network activity in the blue carbon space. 

Enhanced Incorporation Into Science and Policy

o Through support from the NOAA Research Climate Program Office, the NOAA NOS Office for Coastal Management (OCM) 

worked with Silvestrum Climate Associates to update the wetlands section of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory

reporting. The information included within the inventory for coastal wetlands is derived using information from NOAA's 

Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP). OCM Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) data are essential to this 

process. This year's reporting included an update, adding a 2016 date of wetland changes to the previously included data. 

This increased the time-series of information included by an additional five years. 

o NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation continued to support carbon storage and sequestration monitoring at the 

Southern Flow Corridor Project, a hydrologic restoration project in Tillamook Oregon. The ongoing research at this 

location resulted in two publications in 2020: one determining controls on blue carbon burial and sediment accretion and 

a second quantifying ecosystem carbon stock data for Pacific Northwest habitats. 

o NOAA Research’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Carbon Group finalized its report on a five-year project using

kelp to ameliorate local acidification conditions that it participated in with Puget Sound Restoration Fund, the University 

of Washington, and other partners with funding from Paul Allen Family Foundation.

o The NOS Office for Coastal Management-funded NERRS Science Collaborative awarded a three-year study titled “Land Use

and Environmental Effects on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration in Pacific Northwest Tidal Wetlands.” 

The work will add regional greenhouse gas emission and carbon sequestration data to inform coastal restoration efforts, 

including evaluating carbon finance opportunities for tidal wetland restoration initiatives.
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Enhanced Incorporation Into Science and Policy (cont.)

o NOAA NOS National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) scientists 

worked with Duke University scientists (supported by the North Carolina 

Natural and Working Lands effort) to model current and future carbon storage 

and sequestration rates in coastal habitats. This effort is being expanded to 

seven additional states participating in the US Climate Alliance goals to reduce 

greenhouse gases, and will include assessment of marsh migration and its 

potential for increasing blue carbon. 

o NOAA’s Marine Protected Areas Center is working with the Commission for 

Environmental Cooperation, a tri-national organization that supports 

environmental cooperation projects across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, to 

engage in blue carbon activities as part of the Commission’s 2019-2021 

project on marine conservation and climate adaptation. Project deliverables 

(to be completed by Spring 2021) include an updated map of coastal blue 

carbon habitats for North America and a report of the tri-national workshop

Goals for 2021

For additional Information, visit oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/

❏ NOAA will launch its Blue Carbon Inventory (BCI) Project, harnessing the expertise of multiple U.S. agencies and partners 

to advance the development of tools, approaches and capacity for integrating coastal blue carbon in the preparation of 

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventories in select developing countries. The effort will focus primarily on mangroves, with 

opportunities to consider other coastal blue carbon ecosystems depending on the interest of partner countries.

❏ In support of the new NOAA Blue Carbon Inventory (BCI) Project, NOAA/OAR/CPO will initiate a partnership with the 

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) to enhance the accessibility and utility of their Coastal Carbon Data

Clearinghouse, an open-source data portal associated with the Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network (CCRCN). 

❏ Incorporate Blue Carbon function into an assessment of the ecosystem services associated with the use of natural and 

nature-based approaches for coastal resiliency. Salt marshes and seagrasses are incorporated into living shorelines and 

beneficial use of dredged material projects designed to reduce erosion and reduce storm impacts to coastal communities. 

An NOS NCCOS-funded project “Keep it in the System” will assess impacts of thin-layer placement of dredged material on 

low-lying salt marshes.

❏ As part of its "Advancing Blue Carbon Understanding and Management in Marine Protected Areas" project, Greater

Farallones National Marine Sanctuary plans to publish results in an online storymap and a peer-reviewed report in 

fall/winter 2021. This will include an extensive literature review and recommendations for managers, and will be shared 

via multiple international and national venues and platforms.

❏ In 2021, NOAA plans to incorporate a 2019 update for all CONUS geographies, and review opportunities for including 

Hawaii as well as Pacific and Caribbean territories, into the next (2022) U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory reporting.

❏ NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division and its partners will publish a description 

of it atmospheric flux study at the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve.

NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon

2020 Accomplishments

on opportunities for collaboration on blue carbon science and management across the three countries. In October 2020, 

NOAA held a virtual U.S. blue carbon workshop to convene U.S. blue carbon science, management and policy experts and 

provide input to tri-national discussions. The steering committee is developing a concept note to continue work on blue 

carbon and climate adaptation in 2021-23. 

o Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS) initiated the "Advancing Blue Carbon Understanding and

Management in Marine Protected Areas" project, which will be the first assessment of multiple blue carbon sequestration 

habitats and processes in a national marine sanctuary, with the primary purpose of informing a large-scale MPA in its 

management decision-making. This assessment will quantify the carbon sequestration of two coastal habitats (saltmarsh 

and seagrass) and two ocean-based sequestration processes (whale deadfalls and bull kelp) within GFNMS.