Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

Lalao Aigrette, a mangrove scien- tist fromMadagascar, examining a mangrove tree on a field trip in Abu Dhabi and contributing to the first international capacity building ex- change in Blue Carbon (credit Blue Ventures).

The Demonstration Project has provided guidance to the Emirate on the use of Blue Carbon to secure eco- system services vital to the Emirate and beyond (man- groves, saltmarshes, seagrass and potentially algal mats), based on scientific assessment. Stakeholders in the Emirate have shown enthusiasm for the opportuni- ties the project presents; the establishment of a special- ised fund for the protection of ecosystems is already in the early stages. During 2013 GRID-Arendal incorporated the first inter- national Blue Carbon capacity building exchange into the project. Scientists from Madagascar and Indonesia were able to participate in the Blue Carbon baseline as- sessment in Abu Dhabi. These scientists also represented partners from the GEF Blue Forests Project (Blue Ventures and the Government of Indonesia). According to Lalao Ai- grette, a Mangrove Field Scientist from Madagascar, the experience will help “safeguard the ecological goods and services critical to increasingly poor and vulnerable Mala- gasy coastal communities, while also safeguarding critical biodiversity.” Blue Carbon Report GRID-Arendal contributed to a major review of Australia’s coastal wetland ecosystems as part of the Blue Carbon Programme. Funded by the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation the study compares the carbon capture and storage of these coastal systems with that of Australia’s terrestrial ecosystems, including native forests, grasslands, croplands, freshwater wetlands and agricultural land use. The report makes 12 major recom-

mendations aimed at integrating Blue Carbon into Aus- tralia’s national climate policy. 37

 Ecosystem based management/spatial planning Support to UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) GRID-Arendal and UNEP/MAP completed the State of the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Environment Re- port (SoMMCER) 2012. The objective of the report was to synthesize information on major environmental issues to support the continued development of an ecosystem- based approach to marine planning in the Mediterrane- an. A Summary for Policy Makers 38 was presented at the 17th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols, held in February 2012, in Paris, France. The full SoMMCER 39 was launched in Janu- ary 2013. The Mediterranean Sea is complex in its ecology and its social dimensions. Twenty-one countries border the ba- sin of this heavily used and highly valued sea. The Barce- 37. Lawrence, A.J., Baker, E., and Lovelock, C.E. (2012). Optimising and managing coastal carbon: Comparative sequestration and mitigation opportunities across Australia’s landscapes and land uses, FRDC Report 2011/084, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation 38. http://www.grida.no/publications/soemediterranean/ 39. http://www.grida.no/publications/med/

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