Integrating blue: How do we make nationally determined contributions work for both blue carbon and local coastal communities?

Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs) help mitigate and adapt to climate change but their integration into policy, such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), remains underdeveloped. Most BCE conservation requires community engagement, hence community-scale projects must be nested within the implementation of NDCs without compromising livelihoods or social justice. Thirty-three experts, drawn from academia, project development and policy, each developed ten key questions for consideration on how to achieve this. These questions were distilled into ten themes, ranked in order of importance, giving three broad categories of people, policy & finance, and science & technology. Critical considerations for success include the need for genuine participation by communities, inclusive project governance, integration of local work into national policies and practices, sustaining livelihoods and income (for example through the voluntary carbon market and/or national Payment for Ecosystem Services and other types of financial compensation schemes) and simplification of carbon accounting and verification methodologies to lower barriers to entry.

COVID-19 lockdown improved the health of coastal environment and enhanced the population of reef-fish.

Reduction in the impact of human-induced factors is capable of enhancing the environmental health. In view of COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns were imposed in India. Travel, fishing, tourism and religious activities were halted, while domestic and industrial activities were restricted. Comparison of the pre- and post-lockdown data shows that water parameters such as turbidity, nutrient concentration and microbial levels have come down from pre- to post-lockdown period, and parameters such as dissolved oxygen levels, phytoplankton and fish densities have improved. The concentration of macroplastics has also dropped from the range of 138 ± 4.12 and 616 ± 12.48 items/100 m2 to 63 ± 3.92 and 347 ± 8.06 items/100 m2. Fish density in the reef areas has increased from 406 no. 250 m-2 to 510 no. 250 m-2. The study allows an insight into the benefits of effective enforcement of various eco-protection regulations and proper management of the marine ecosystems to revive their health for biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization.

Using resilience assessments to inform the management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems.

Climate change is causing the decline of coral reef ecosystems globally. Recent research highlights the importance of reducing CO2 emissions in combination with implementing local management actions to support reef health and recovery, particularly actions that protect sites which are more resilient to extreme events. Resilience assessments quantify the ecological, social, and environmental context of reefs through the lens of resilience, i.e., the capacity of a system to absorb or withstand stressors such that the system maintains its structure and functions and has the capacity to adapt to future disturbances and changes. Resilience assessments are an important tool to help marine managers and decision makers anticipate changes, identify areas with high survival prospects, and prioritize management actions to support resilience. While being widely implemented, however, there has not yet been an evaluation of whether resilience assessments have informed coral reef management. Here, we assess the primary and gray literature and input from coral reef managers to map where resilience assessments have been conducted. We explore if and how they have been used to inform management actions and provide recommendations for improving the likelihood that resilience assessments will result in management actions and positive conservation outcomes. These recommendations are applicable to other ecosystems in which resilience assessments are applied and will become increasingly important as climate impacts intensify and reduce the window of opportunity for protecting natural ecosystems.

Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in the coral reef, sea grass and near shore habitats of Rameswaram Island, India.

This study compares the occurrence and characteristics of microplastics (MPs) and heavy metal contaminants in the water and sediment of three habitats (corals, seagrass-beds and near-shores) of Rameswaram Island, India. The overall mean concentration of MPs varies from 24 ± 9 to 96 ± 57 items/L in water, and from 55 ± 21 to 259 ± 88 items/kg in sediment. The value of abundance is the greatest in the coral reef site CR-1 (96 ± 51 items/L; 259 ± 88 items/kg) followed by the seagrass site SG-2 (94 ± 55 items/L; 203 ± 75 items/kg) and the near-shore site St-15 (95 ± 63 items/L; 193 ± 75 items/kg). PE fiber (<1000 µm) is predominant in water, whereas PP fiber and fragment (between 2000 and 5000 µm) dominate the sediment. The SEM images of MPs reveal features which are characteristic of degradation like surface roughness, cracks, protrusions, and chalking, along with surface precipitates of both chemical and biological origin. EDAX images show the presence of Cr, Fe, Hg, Pb, Cu, As and Cd associated with MP surfaces.

Marine debris - An emerging threat to the reef areas of Gulf of Mannar, India.

Underwater survey was conducted to assess the accumulation and impact of marine debris in the reef areas of Gulf of Mannar in southeast India. A combination of roving diver technique and belt transect method was applied for the assessment, which was conducted during the period between February 2018 and March 2019. An estimated total reef area of 1152 m2 has been affected by marine debris. Abandoned fishing nets were found to constitute the major portion of 43.17 ± 5.48% of the marine debris. Live corals were found to be dominant substrates for marine debris with 39.11%. The average prevalence of coral colonies in contact with marine debris was 3.28 ± 0.27%. Prevalence of corals in contact with debris was very high in genus Acropora with 8.23 ± 1.29% followed by Montipora with 4.63 ± 1.29% due to their complex growth form. Of the corals in contact with debris, 47.56% were fragmented and 34% were found with tissue loss.

The effects of habitat on coral bleaching responses in Kenya.

This study examines the bleaching responses of scleractinian corals at four sites in Kenya (Kanamai, Vipingo, Mombasa and Nyali) representing two distinct lagoon habitats (relatively shallow and relatively deep). Bleaching incidence was monitored for the whole coral community, while zooxanthellae densities and chlorophyll levels were monitored for target species (Pocillopora damicornis, Porites lutea, and Porites cylindrica) during a non-bleaching year (2006) and a year of mild-bleaching (2007). Differences in bleaching responses between habitats were observed, with shallower sites Kanamai and Vipingo exhibiting lower bleaching incidence than deeper sites Nyali and Mombasa. These shallower lagoons display more fluctuating thermal and light environments than the deeper sites, suggesting that corals in the shallower lagoons have acclimatized and/or adapted to the fluctuating environmental conditions they endure on a daily basis and have become more resistant to bleaching stress. In deeper sites that did exhibit higher bleaching (Mombasa and Nyali), it was found that coral recovery occurred more quickly in the protected area than in the non-protected area.