BLUE CARBON & BIODIVERSITY

BLUE CARBON CLIMATE IMPACT

in support of the UN Paris Climate Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals. WIF cooperates with private and public partners in cost-effective offsets of carbon footprints. We specialize in mangrove restoration, seagrass conservation, and seaweed and Azolla production, with livelihoods and sustainable community development in support of vulnerable coastal communities. To invest in nature is to invest in our collective future.

Meet your offset needs

Global and local impact with sustainable community development

At an early stage of climate emergency, WIF decided to focus fully on mitigating climate change. The most urgent need is to reduce CO2 accumulated in the atmosphere. Restoring lost mangrove forests is the most cost-effective method, nature’s own solution tested for millions of years. By 2023, over 100 million high-value mangrove trees will be in healthy growth, capturing and storing 5 times more CO2 than terrestrial trees. Expansion with 25 million trees in progress on 10,000 hectares. Conservation of 66,000 hectares is to be started in 2024. Total mitigation of over 50 million tons CO2 and community development in areas with over 10 million people.

Why Blue Carbon?

Blue Carbon represents CO2 captured by the world’s Oceans, equating more than 55% of green carbon (captured by plants). The carbon captured by living organisms in oceans is stored in the form of sediments from mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses. It does not remain stored for decades or centuries (like, for example, rainforests), but rather for millennia. The Ocean is the most effective carbon climate mitigator, sequestering 83% of global carbon. Its algae production and mangrove shorelines are vital for its contribution to climate restoration and conservation. Production of seaweed, conservation of seagrass and coral reefs, and production of kelp, are all practical solutions with the highest effect on mitigation, as well as maintaining biodiversity and promoting life-bearing ecosystem services. These activities generate substantial value for financing and carbon income. The carbon market is expanding and interest in high value blue carbon is fast increasing.

Blue Carbon

Why is it so important?

When protected or restored, blue carbon ecosystems sequester and store carbon. When degraded or destroyed, these ecosystems emit the carbon they have stored for centuries into the atmosphere and oceans and become sources of greenhouse gases. Experts estimate that as much as 1.02 billion tons of carbon dioxide are being released annually from degraded coastal ecosystems, which is equivalent to 19% of emissions from tropical deforestation globally*.

Biodiversity

Photo Credit: Ashima Narain

Promoting and enriching biodiversity in our projects:

Establishing the first mangrove gene bank with 64 different species of mangroves, among these are endangered species on the IUCN red list.

Collecting mother plants and seeds from 440 endemic endangered orchid species for storage at the Global Seed Vault at Svalbard and rescuing plants by propagation at WIF high tech development laboratory.

Protecting wild elephants seeking shelter in the newly planted mangrove forest and the dugong sea mammals, and a 400 sea turtle colony in the ocean outside of the mangrove parks.

Research on soil, water, fauna and flora continues, as well as the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Photo Credit: Ashima Narain

Oceans, the cradle of life on Earth, cover 70% of the world’s surface. This is humanity’s lifeline at a time of climate emergency.

New projects to be started from 2023

New projects to be started in Asia, Latin America and Africa. This will more than double the mitigation impact and provide life-bearing ecosystem services to millions of people. WIF is also developing seaweed planting and harvest for human consumption and conservation of seagrass meadows with a marine protected area.

Embrace this timely opportunity and become part of our success. Early investors will be prioritized.

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