Graham Epstein

Why scientists want to protect empty, muddy seabeds YouTube video by CBC British Columbia

Our new paper on seabed carbon protection has been picked up by CBC TV News here in BC and they have made this great little feature - Work from a research partnership between UVic, OceansNorth & DFO - www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Vs... @baumlab.bsky.social @uvic.bsky.social @uvicscience.bsky.social

Seabed carbon storage in marine protected areas - University of Victoria Using marine protected areas (MPAs) to preserve natural carbon storage in key areas of the seafloor could be an additional strategy to help limit climate change, according to new research led by UVic.

UVic media team also did a great job of pushing the coverage of this work through a news release @uvic.bsky.social - www.uvic.ca/news/topics/...

A call to protect carbon in Canada’s ocean floor In an attempt to halt and reverse the decline of marine biodiversity, Canada has joined commitments to put 25% of its seas into marine…

Or our accessible summary on FACETS's Medium Blog - medium.com/facets/a-cal...

Protecting the ocean floor could help mitigate climate change Natural carbon storage in sediments on the seafloor should become part of marine protected area planning.

For more information please also read our article in @policyoptions.bsky.social policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/ja...

Sediments on the ocean floor may seem empty and unimportant, however they contain unique, diverse and often fragile species and are vital for the appropriate functioning of all marine ecosystems. They also constitute one of the planets largest natural carbon stores.

Canada’s marine governing body (DFO) has stated that climate change mitigation is an aim of the MPA network development. But only salt marshes, seagrass beds and kelp forests have so far been considered. We argue that incorporating seabed sediments could bring similar or potentially larger benefits.

Protection of seabed sediments in Canada's marine conservation network for potential climate change mitigation co-benefit Marine conserved areas (MCAs) can provide a range of ecological and socio-economic benefits, including climate change mitigation from the protection and enhancement of natural carbon storage. Canada's...

Canada's marine protected area (MPA) network is expanding to reach 30% by 2030. Our new paper argues that natural carbon storage in muddy seafloor sediments should become part of future planning. www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/... @baumlab.bsky.social @uvicscience.bsky.social