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Mangroves are among the most important ecosystems on the planet. They provide nursery grounds for a wide variety of marine and landbased species, sustain livelihoods of coastal populations, and protection from ocean swell and extreme weather events.

The value and role of mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses for climate change mitigation was established back in 2009 by reports by IUCN and UNEP to focus attention on addressing a critical gap in national carbon accounting and management.

Wetlands have been the focus of conservation and restoration efforts for over a century, and governments, international actors (NGOs and academia) and local communities around the world are now increasingly engaging in wetland restoration or avoiding wetland degration activities for climate chang

Development and implementation of blue carbon-based activities now requires strategic policy and incentive mechanisms for coastal conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and and disincentives to drain or damage coastal systems. Currently no broad, strategic program exists to achieve this.

This summary is based on Crooks, S., Herr, D., Laffoley, D., Tamelander, J. and Vandever, J. 2010.