Background

During the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow, United Kingdom, Seychelles committed within the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to map the full extent of the blue carbon seagrass and mangrove ecosystems within its waters and measuring their carbon stock values, with the goal of including these ecosystems within the Seychelles’ National Green House Gas inventory (NGGI) by 2025. The Seychelles Seagrass Mapping and Carbon Assessment Project was initiated to deliver the seagrass components of this commitment with the following aims:

1. To assess the distribution and extent of seagrass habitats.
2. To quantify how much carbon is stored in the associated below-ground sediments.
3. To assess the rate at which carbon accumulates.
4. To build scientific capacity to support future surveys and a blueprint for further development of seagrass mapping and blue carbon research regionally.

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