QUEENSLAND BLUE
Queensland Blue
This program explores Queensland’s Blue Carbon potential, including mapping of Blue Carbon stocks and sequestration rates.
#QLDBlue is a multi-sector R&D collaboration – comprising Academia, Project Developers, and Industry – examining opportunities for Blue Carbon additionality in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
This includes doing an inventory of QLD Blue Carbon Stocks and sequestration rates, analyzing drivers of Blue Carbon sequestration in QLD catchments, creating spatial heatmaps of sites suitable for Blue Carbon additionality, and developing predictive models of Blue Carbon under different management scenarios. Queensland Blue builds QLD’s Blue Carbon future and expands carbon farming in through the development of a new Blue Carbon market.
Program background
Blue carbon ecosystems (seagrass meadows, tidal marshes and mangrove forests) are among the most efficient carbon sinks, however, these ecosystems are declining globally. Because of their ability to capture CO2, there is an increasing recognition of their role in climate change mitigation, and consequently, a growing demand to incorporate blue carbon into national greenhouse gas accounts.
Through this Land Restoration Fund Pilot Project of the Queensland Government, Deakin Blue Carbon Lab will help put Queensland at the forefront of international efforts to incorporate coastal carbon within CO2 mitigation strategies, thereby helping to mitigate climate change while also improving other ecosystem services (e.g. water quality, enhancing natural capital, and contributing to jobs, economic growth and community well-being)
We will answer the most critical question underpinning further consideration and investment in blue carbon in the Land Restoration Fund context: how big is the opportunity for blue carbon (e.g. how many tonnes of CO2 could be offset per annum?) in Queensland and where to act? This information is essential for informing potential future investments in blue carbon through the Land Restoration Fund.
Selected Media & Publications
- New Grant: Blue Carbon potential in QLD (Media Release)
- Palaszczuk Government announces first six Land Restoration Fund projects (Media Release)
- From sea to shining sink; carbon storing making waves (Media Release)
Project Partners
This work is led by Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab. Project partners include the University of Queensland, James Cook University, CSIRO, GreenCollar Group, North Queensland Dry Tropics, Department of the Environment and Energy (International Blue Carbon Partnership), Qantas, HSBC, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Funding sources
This project is funded by the Queensland Government’s flagship Land Restoration Fund, with additional contributions from Deakin University.
Progress
