Blue Carbon & Living Shorelines

Coastal wetlands store three to five times more carbon per acre than terrestrial ecosystems.

Many coastal wetlands, including those along the Gulf Coast, face degradation and disappearance due to increasing rates of sea level rise. This threatens to release their carbon content and uproot the ecosystems they support. The BCarbon Living Shorelines Protocol provides a mechanism to protect wetlands along with their sequestered carbon and biodiversity.

Read our Protocol here.

The BCarbon Blue Carbon Living Shorelines protocol defines the technical approach to certify carbon dioxide removals and enhance blue carbon sequestration from installing and operating living shorelines. The general process, as described in the Protocol, for constructing and crediting of Living Shorelines, is summarized in the graphics below.

Thanks to the BCarbon Living Shorelines Subcommittee and the following experts for development and updates to the Protocol.

Dr. Larry McKinney 

Dr. Joe Fox 

Dr. Rusty Feagin  

Jeff Cohen

Dr. Rob Lane

Dr. Rachel Hunter

Dr. John Day 

Dr. Jenni Pollack 

Ted Hollingsworth 

Tony Williams 

Chris Levitz 

Mark Gagliano 

 Lalise Mason

Apply:

  1. Submit a Letter of Intent.

  2. Meet with BCarbon for pre-consultation.

  3. Fill out our Application and Spreadsheet, and complete our Checklist.

For additional support, see our Site Selection Guide, which expands on some important site-specific features to keep in mind while developing a project / application.

Sources/further reading: Pidgeon 2009; Nellemann et al 2009