Launched the NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon Community of Practice, a cross-line office effort to 

connect and share coastal blue carbon information across NOAA through email updates, 

meetings, and an invited speaker series.

Continued blue carbon engagement with updates to various committees, including the NOAA 

Habitat Conservation Team and the National Ocean Council’s Subcommittee on Ocean Science 

and Technology. 

Published multiple papers and reports covering blue carbon science, including:

 Integrating coastal blue carbon in marine protected areas

 Clarifying the blue carbon role of various coastal and marine ecosystems

 Understanding carbon content, burial, accumulation, and deposition in salt marshes

Gave presentations on coastal blue carbon science and policy at multiple conferences, 

including the Society of Wetland Scientists and the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.

NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon

2017 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

ENHANCED INCORPORATION OF COASTAL BLUE CARBON INTO SCIENCE AND POLICY 

NOAA COASTAL BLUE CARBON GOALS FOR 2018

Supported the inclusion of coastal wetlands in the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory (released in April 2017). 

Coastal wetlands of the contiguous U.S. were included in the inventory for the first time , with estimates of 

carbon stock change and methane emissions. The effort resulted in two articles in Nature and broad 

international interest. NOAA’s Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) data played a critical role in this.

Supported the coastal blue carbon component of a National Academy of Sciences study, Developing a 

Research Agenda for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration. The blue carbon workshop 

report was released in December 2017 and the overall study recommendations are expected in 2018.

Finalized internal coastal blue carbon strategies for NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Research, and National Ocean 

Service.

Image : NOAA

STRENGTHENED COASTAL BLUE CARBON POLICY AND RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

 Continue to support the inclusion of coastal wetlands in the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

 Expand and strengthen the NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon Community of Practice.

 Provide blue carbon recommendations to the National Ocean Council’s Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology.

 Connect and coordinate with the newly-launched Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network.

Leveraged interagency relationships to advance coastal blue carbon efforts and represent NOAA’s work 

internationally, through support of U.S. participation in International Partnership for Blue Carbon 

workshops (July 2017) and blue carbon events at UNFCCC COP 23 (November 2017).

Engaged in new partnerships with Restore America’s Estuaries to develop carbon feasibility assessments 

for a mangrove restoration project (Rookery Bay, Florida) and a project assessing dredge placement 

options that could help restore marshes (Port Fourchon, Louisiana). 

Continued to advance coastal blue carbon research through NOAA’s National Estuarine Research 

Reserves, multiple Hollings Scholars, and involvement with interagency research projects including 

NASA’s coastal wetland carbon project and Department of Defense’s Coastal/Estuarine Research 

Program.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, VISIT https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bluecarbon.html

INCREASED AWARENESS OF BLUE CARBON PROGRESS AND OPPORTUNITIES

NOAA’s coastal blue carbon activities are a collaborative effort across the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Ocean Service 

(NOS) and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).