The Eurecat technology centre is coordinating the BlauCat project which analyses the state of blue carbon in Catalonia’s coastal ecosystems to enhance the key role of wetlands and other coastal systems as natural carbon reservoirs which can capture and store carbon efficiently.
The initiative will also design strategies for conserving and restoring coastal ecosystems and set up a specific database on blue carbon in Catalonia. Eurecat has started fieldwork in the Ebro Delta to analyse the carbon in the top metre of soil.
Based on the findings of the project’s analyses and assessments, “the initiative could become the basis for a future carbon credit system in Catalonia to capture carbon in coastal systems and promote climate change mitigation,” says Carles Ibáñez, director of the Climate Resilience Centre.
Similarly, Jordi Sargatal, Secretary for Ecological Transition, points out that the Ministry of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition is going to design a blue carbon action plan, BlauCat, to step up the fight against climate change and help protect and restore coastal ecosystems. “Wetlands, lagoons, bays and seaweed beds can be exceptional partners in adapting the coastline to climate change and in sequestering carbon,” he argues.
To lay the groundwork for this plan, he has commissioned a three-year project led by the Climate Resilience Centre (CRC), coordinated by Eurecat, and financed with €1.1 million from the Catalan Government’s Climate Fund, a public fund managed by the Ministry of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition which is sourced from 50 per cent of the revenue generated by the tax on CO2 emissions from motor vehicles and 20 per cent of the levy on facilities that impact the environment.
Eurecat is coordinating the BlauCat project in partnership with the Blanes Centre for Advanced Studies (CEAB-CSIC) and the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF).
BlauCat was unveiled during the Climate Resilience Centre’s second workshop entitled “Climate Resilience in Catalonia: points of no return, opportunities, best practices”, held in Amposta at the end of last week.
“Mapping, experimental campaigns, environmental pressure analysis and restoration initiatives will enable the project to generate key knowledge to protect these habitats, contributing to the resilience of coastal areas and the sustainability of marine and terrestrial ecosystems,” says Nil Álvarez, director of Eurecat’s Climate Solutions and Ecosystem Services Unit.
Analysis of Catalan coastal systems’ carbon sink capacity
Given that coastal ecosystems, including wetlands, lagoons, bays and seaweed beds, store part of the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, known as blue carbon, in a similar way to terrestrial plants and soils, the current state of Catalan coastal systems will be explored in depth. Both the stored carbon stock and their sink capacity will be estimated with analytics and sampling harnessing digital tools and statistical models with artificial intelligence techniques.
Accurate carbon assessment in wetlands helps mitigate climate change by identifying and protecting those with large carbon reserves per unit area and makes it easier to include wetlands in carbon offset programmes.
Another of the project’s strands is to ascertain the restoration potential of coastal ecosystems by looking not only at their carbon sequestration capacity but also the provision of other ecosystem services, such as protection against erosion and flooding and biodiversity recovery. This will make it possible to identify priority areas for environmental restoration.
30,000 hectares of wetlands and coastal systems
Catalan wetlands cover an area of approximately 20,000 hectares, mainly in the Ebro and Llobregat deltas and the Empordà Wetlands. However, current data on organic carbon content are limited and variable. Recent studies indicate an estimated average value of 14 per cent in the top 20 centimetres of soil in the Ebro Delta, representing around 20 kilograms of carbon per square metre. This figure could increase significantly if greater depths are considered. Annual capture rates are also striking, ranging from 32 to 435 grams of carbon per square metre per year with an average similar to other wetlands worldwide.
As for marine ecosystems, seagrass meadows cover nearly 9,700 hectares of the Catalan coastline. With a carbon storage capacity of between 30 and 37 kilograms per square metre, they can hold between 2.9 and 3.6 million tonnes of organic carbon.
