ABSTRACT

The scale at which New Zealand is currently storing and sequestering blue carbon, and could create additional blue carbon via restoration, has been unclear. Here, we calculate a preliminary estimate for the current extent of three key blue carbon ecosystems (saltmarshes, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows), their carbon stocks and their carbon sequestration rates using the best available data to provide a preliminary estimate of blue carbon in New Zealand. We also use local examples to explore opportunities to create additional blue carbon. Based on the available literature, we estimate the current extent of New Zealand’s blue carbon ecosystems to be 76,152 ha, which is 1.0% of the area of terrestrial native forests. Our preliminary estimate of New Zealand’s blue carbon stock is 2.66–3.76 Mt of carbon, with a current carbon sequestration rate of 0.12 (0.05–0.26) Mt/CO₂/yr, which is equivalent to 0.16% of New Zealand’s 2021 gross emissions. Restoration of saltmarshes could enhance their carbon sink capacity, mangrove forests are naturally expanding and seagrass meadow restoration techniques at scale are still in development. Developing a national framework for blue carbon protection, monitoring and restoration is important as part of New Zealand’s climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

摘要

新西兰目前储存和封存蓝碳的规模以及可能通过恢复产生更多蓝碳的规模尚不清楚。在这里，我们使用现有的最佳数据对三个关键蓝碳生态系统（盐沼、红树林和海草草甸）当前的范围、其碳储量和碳封存率进行了初步估计，以提供新大陆蓝碳的初步估计。西兰岛。我们还利用当地的例子来探索创造更多蓝碳的机会。根据现有文献，我们估计新西兰蓝碳生态系统目前的范围为76,152公顷，占陆地原生森林面积的1.0%。我们对新西兰蓝色碳储量的初步估计为 2.66–3.76 公吨碳，₂ /年，相当于新西兰2021年总排放量的0.16%。盐沼的恢复可以增强其碳汇能力，红树林正在自然扩张，大规模的海草草甸恢复技术仍在开发中。作为新西兰减缓和适应气候变化努力的一部分，制定国家蓝碳保护、监测和恢复框架非常重要。