COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS keen on making their mark in the conservation of coastal forests are likely to have an opportunity to do so, with a call for proposal expected out this year from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ).

The revelation was made by EFJ boss Barrington Lewis, who said they were opting to focus on coastal forests, based on findings from a recent review.

“We did a strategic review on grants awarded under the Tropical Forest Conservation Agreement and saw that this area of coastal forest was underserved. So we are going this route,” he said.

Coastal forests, also referred to as ‘blue’ forests, comprise coastal and marine ecosystems, including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal salt marshes.

“They play an important role in protecting marine biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of coastal and island communities by providing habitats for fisheries, filtering water, guarding shorelines and creating opportunities for tourism and recreation,” explains the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) website, in an article titled ‘Blue Forests: Finding Coastal and Marine Solutions to meet the Paris Agreement’.

“Blue forests also play a vital role in addressing the impacts of climate change. Such ecosystems are highly efficient in storing and sequestering atmospheric carbon in biomass and sediments, storing up to ten times as much carbon per unit area than terrestrial forests. The ability of coastal vegetation to sequester carbon is called ‘blue carbon’,” the article added.

Climate change and its many impacts – including not only warmer global temperatures, but also extreme weather events, such as the Category 3 to 5 hurricane events seen in the Caribbean over recent years – are fueled by the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide.

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