Promoting Understanding and Awareness of Progress

NOAA presented the Central Library talk, “Coastal Blue Carbon: What is it and

how is NOAA engaged?”

NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation and Tillamook Estuaries

Partnership produced a report about the Socio-Economic Impacts of the

Southern Flow Corridor Restoration Project, including carbon benefits.

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Greater Farallones

Association quantified the annual carbon sequestration of two coastal

habitats (saltmarsh and seagrass) and two marine carbon export processes

(whale deadfalls and bull kelp). The assessment, the first in a national marine sanctuary, is Part 2 of a 

series that includes an online story map. 

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and National Marine Protected Areas Center, through The 

International Partnership on MPAs, Biodiversity, and Climate Change, published case studies from the 

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Kelp Recovery Program and the Waquoit Bay National 

Estuarine Research Reserve -Bringing Wetlands to Market. The Partnership also presented these case 

studies at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow.

NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division and its partners published 

an atmospheric flux study at the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve.

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Researchers quantified the role of shoreline erosion 

in marsh blue carbon budgets by investigating the fate of eroded marsh carbon. 

Sea Grant-supported research resulted in publications on blue carbon stocks in California and the effect of 

restoration on carbon sequestration of salt marshes.

NOAA’s Marine Protected Areas Center featured blue carbon in its story map on Marine Protected Areas as 

Climate Solutions. 

The NOAA Blue Carbon Team worked to include coastal blue carbonrelated strategies for drawing down and sequestering marine carbon 

dioxide in the cross-Line office (OAR, NMFS, NOS) NOAA Carbon Dioxide 

Removal Research Strategy white paper. 

Virginia Sea Grant announced its newest Graduate Research Fellow cohort 

included a student exploring blue carbon market applications of research 

on greenhouse gas dynamics in seagrass habitats.

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and EPA Office of Research and 

Enabling Action through Partnerships and Research

Development Climate Resiliency Workgroup are identifying potential blue carbon-related coastal resilience 

projects and connecting them with science and funding.

The NOAA Blue Carbon Inventory Project was endorsed as a Decade Action as part of the United Nations 

Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and highlighted by Administrator Spinrad at COP 

26 in Glasgow Scotland.

2021 Accomplishments

NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon

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 Blue Carbon team highlighted the relevance of coastal blue

carbon ecosystems for marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) activities in

the CDR Task Force Interagency meetings led by the Department of Energy.

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 data from NOAA's Coastal Change

Analysis Program (C-CAP). This year's reporting included an update to 2016 for wetland change data. 

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

NOAA Blue Carbon team members served as expert reviewers on the Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse 

Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2020 – Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry.

NOAA Fisheries supported Restore America’s Estuaries in their application of coastal blue carbon data 

from the Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network in six pilot case studies that were included in 

the updated The Economic Value of America’s Estuaries 2021 Report.

Integrating Science in Policy

Goals for 2022

Explore options for

formalizing the

NOAA Blue Carbon

team while

maintaining the

team’s flexible,

inclusive and

responsive

approach.

Update and expand

NOAA’s web

presence on blue

carbon issues,

including on NOAA’s

role in blue carbon

science and

management.

Collaborate with

the Carbon Cycle

Interagency

Working Group to

include blue carbon

in their planned

2022 workshops on

carbon dioxide

removal.

Support the

inclusion of coastal

blue carbon

habitats into

national

greenhouse gas

inventories in other

countries through

the NOAA Blue

Carbon Inventory

Project and support

at least one

country-focused

workshop.

Publish a white

paper and fact

sheet that provide

a brief overview of

the topic of blue

carbon and NOAA’s

role in the space.

For additional Information, visit oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/ - Page 2

Members of the NOAA Blue Carbon team met with the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CC-IWG)

in December 2021 to invite additional interagency collaboration on blue carbon issues. The CC-IWG agreed

to include blue carbon in a series of carbon dioxide removal workshops under development for 2022.

2021 Accomplishments

NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon