Do we truly understand the importance of blue carbon ecosystems? The loss of seagrass meadows releases gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Protecting them has therefore become a priority for BLUEQ, unlocking their potential through its project actions
Blue carbon ecosystem is a combination of coastal habitats of seagrass beds, tidal salt marshes, and mangrove forests able to reduce atmospheric carbon and store it inside their living structures. A few of these coastal elements sustain life in the Mediterranean Sea, not only capturing and storing carbon for centuries but supporting fisheries, purifying water, and protecting coastlines from storms and erosion.
One of the most important climate allies of the Adriatic-Ionian Sea is the Posidonia oceanica whose meadows isolate carbon more efficiently than an equivalent area of the Amazon rainforest. Yet many people are still unaware of their importance. A lack of knowledge and awareness regarding their vital role in the ecosystem, along with the daily threats they face due to marine pollution and high exposure to phosphorus, nitrogen, and nutrients, put these valuable allies at risk.
In response to these challenges, the IPA ADRION funded project BLUEQ brings together partners from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and Montenegro to secure long-term preservation of Posidonia oceanica, through applied solutions to monitor coastal habitats and to quantify blue carbon storage in the area.
Credit: Sakis Lazarides (iStock)
From data collection to local engagement
A joint team of researchers is working at transnational level to collect data that will be relevant to quantify blue carbon storage in the area. In this panorama, Konstantinos Topouzelis, from the University of the Aegean, focuses on remote sensing, mapping, and monitoring of the blue carbon ecosystem through high resolution satellites and drones. The University of Palermo, explains Laura Corbari, is tracking environmental changes, comparing past and present data. The Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) instead is studying the seabed sediment to measure the amount and rate of carbon accumulation. The combination of this data, as reported by Evina Gontikaki from FORTH, is essential to predict the carbon storage potential under different management scenarios or restoration projects.
The involvement of universities is crucial to ensure the scientific outcomes of the project by providing scientific expertise, advanced technologies, and data analysis to support the conservation of Posidonia oceanica meadows. Through activities such as habitat mapping, carbon stock assessment, GIS development, and remote sensing applications, academic partners contribute to filling scientific knowledge gaps and developing evidence-based solutions for climate change mitigation and marine biodiversity protection in the Adriatic-Ionian region.
Alongside data collection, joint pilot action implemented in 4 key study areas of the Adriatic-Ionian region plays a fundamental role in testing solutions. The first experimentations are being launched at the local level. In Šibenik-Knin County (Croatia), local authorities are already using BLUEQ tools as GIS-Based Blue Carbon Platform and BLUEQ Digital Hub to turn scientific data into operational tools that support coastal management, marine spatial planning, and protected area governance.
Specifically, the GIS-Based Blue Carbon Platform combines field and laboratory data to assess the carbon footprint of the Adriatic Ionian Sea. The BLUEQ Digital Hub instead is an interactive, multilingual online platform designed to support communication and collaboration across the region. The hub serves two main functions: one as shared space between scientific institutions, policymakers and other stakeholders, supporting collaborations in the field of blue carbon conservation, planning and potential financing pathways, and one as central repository of project outputs and results to ensure broad accessibility and long-term visibility.
Thanks to these digital and spatial solutions for planning the Šibenik-Knin County is already improving their conservation strategies as highlighted by Tina Dragutin Burić, Head of the County’s department for Protection and Preservation, while in Karaburun Sazan National Marine Park (Albania), the Local Economic Development Agency (AULEDA) is engaging fishers and tourist operators towards sustainable practices aiming at preserving the Posidonia meadows.
Local engagement is in fact vital for a project like BLUEQ at all levels of society. For this reason, information must be accessible and available to everyone, encouraging opportunities for disseminating the tools developed by the project to a larger community. Therefore, the Regional Education and Information Centre for Sustainable Development (REIC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina is improving the accessibility of the digital tools to planners, teachers and local stakeholders to promote ocean literacy for all age groups through public workshops, school visits and educational initiatives, bringing BLUEQ tools from a technical level into everyday community learning. On the other hand, inn Montenegro, the Institute of Modern Technologies Montenegro (IMTM) is enhancing knowledge exchange connecting decision-makers, scientists, and local communities, through a network which will establish a Blue Carbon Observatory aiming to, as explained by Katarina Kovijanić from IMTM, encourage local stakeholders in supporting Maritime Spatial Planning in accordance with EU’s Blue Carbon Strategy.
BLUEQ: results in motion
Moreover, tailored solutions, part of Blue Carbon Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian region, need to be spread to a wider audience to be understood and at the end used.
For this reason, BLUEQ has produced a short documentary with the aim of giving maximum visibility to project results and raising awareness about the importance of blue carbon ecosystems across the region. The footage focuses on key study areas in Albania, Croatia, Greece, and Italy, to represent diverse environmental characteristics, levels of anthropogenic pressure, and management approaches across the region.
The documentary showcases a series of pilot actions such as underwater research, habitat monitoring, biodiversity assessment, sediment coring, drone mapping, and the protection of Posidonia oceanica meadows aiming at inspiring local communities, stakeholders and decision-makers to support their protection and implement sustainable management of our coastal and marine environments.
In fact, the project’s main goal is to provide policymakers with useful tools and figures to conduct “informed data-based decisions for a sustainable future”. As mentioned by Michaela Doukari, BLUEQ Project Manager from the University of the Aegean, the project aims to turn scientific data into practical tools, useful for local communities and decision-makers to restore and plan sustainable coasts.
Conclusions: “Restoration begins with knowledge. Resilience begins with action.”
In a region where climate change and human pressure increasingly threaten blue carbon ecosystems, BLUEQ demonstrates that science, cooperation, and local engagement can work together to protect the future of the Adriatic-Ionian coasts. As explained in the documentary, BLUEQ is moving from research to concrete actions, shaping up a new model for sustainable coastal management in the Adriatic-Ionian Sea through real-time data, local action, and transnational cooperation. Additionally, the documentary highlights not only the ecological value of Posidonia oceanica meadows and other blue carbon ecosystems, but also the collective responsibility to preserve them. Protecting blue carbon ecosystems and making them resilient means in fact protecting biodiversity, coastal communities, and the future of our sea.
