A Potential Source of Funding to Protect Blue Carbon Coastal Ecosystems in Baja California and Baja California Sur
This report examines market-based carbon mechanisms as a potential source of financing for blue carbon restoration and conservation in Mexico. Despite some protection offered to coastal wetlands in Mexico, government resources for protected areas are limited, as is the case for NGOs who have acquired lands for conservation. Furthermore, there are still many other areas without proper protection, in particular many of the coastal wetlands of Bahía Magdalena in Baja California Sur. In that sense, there is a strong case for exploring additional funding mechanisms, such as carbon offsets, which can help fund conservation efforts. The report offers an overview of market-based carbon mechanisms in Mexico and around the world, and reviews why carbon markets present an increasingly interesting funding source for blue carbon asset conservation. Mexico has the second largest mangrove restorable area after Indonesia, even though it is the country with the fourth largest mangrove extension. Yet, many of its blue carbon assets face multiple land-use pressures that lead to their degradation, and using market mechanisms is a compelling option to help fund protection efforts, thus ensuring the sequestration of carbon as well as other environmental and social benefits these ecosystems provide.
Author: Tania Miranda, Director of Policy, Environment and Climate Change Program, Institute of the Americas. Contact: tmiranda@iamericas.org
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