Novel guidance documentation launched by GFOI on blue carbon reporting

The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) has released its groundbreaking “Blue carbon” module on the GFOI Family of Resources (GFoR) to advance the sustainable management and integrity of coastal wetlands worldwide.
This comprehensive material serves as a guide through the methodological steps to reporting on emissions and removals from coastal wetlands in national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. To access the new guidance module on blue carbon, please click here.
Incorporating coastal wetlands in national greenhouse gas inventories
A critical bridge between land and sea, coastal wetlands provide a home for countless species and a wealth of vital ecosystem services. Among the most biodiverse environments on the planet, these ecosystems include mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses. The carbon sequestered from and stored by coastal wetlands, referred to as blue carbon, relies on the soil and biomass of coastal wetlands (including leaves, branches, stems, roots, litter and dead wood).
The latest to launch on the GFoR platform, the “Blue carbon” module was designed to be an essential reference for developing and implementing the initial steps to include coastal wetlands in national GHG inventories for REDD+ results-based payments and blue carbon initiatives. Moreover, this guidance material highlights good practices and overviews case studies from countries that have included coastal wetlands in their national GHG inventories.
GFOI methods and guidance documentation
The GFOI’s Methods and Guidance Documentation Component develops and disseminates supporting materials for forest and carbon monitoring through the GFoR. This includes guidance on the integration of remote-sensing and ground-based observations for the estimation of emissions and removal of greenhouse gases in forests, along with REDDcompass, the Registry of Tools and OpenMRV.
The resources managed by the component provide a user-friendly approach to guide countries through the complex processes of national forest monitoring system (NFMS) design, development and management. It complements the GFOI partners’ own guidance materials and presents these within the context of complete measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) procedures.