Please send a message to the Canadian Government urging them to immediately protect coastal habitats that help combat climate change.

Scientists of the United Nations Environment Program recommended to the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference that 80 percent of the world's remaining seagrass and salt marsh habitat be protected as an important step among the range of strategies necessary to combat global climate change. The best way to protect coastal ecosystems is to set aside marine protected areas (MPAs) and regulate their use through marine planning and ecosystem-based fisheries management. As the nation with the longest coastline in the world, protecting these ecosystems is part of the action Canada should take to combat climate change.
   
The Government of Canada has already committed to creating a national network of MPAs but has not adequately prioritized that commitment nor considered identifying natural carbon sequestering habitats as part of the network. Now is the time to act.

Natural carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon in a stable solid form. Some terrestrial and marine plants sequester or fix carbon into the soil or sediments around their roots in mineral form, storing it for thousands of years or more. These carbon sequestering plants are extremely important for reducing the amount of carbon circulating in the atmosphere and oceans, and play an important role in combating climate change and ocean acidification which are caused by increased CO2 in the atmosphere.

Seventy percent of the marine plants that naturally sequester carbon are found in coastal areas such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes. Much of these areas have been lost since the 1940s due to coastal development, and have been damaged by run off from agricultural and industrial activities. These coastal ecosystems are more effective than terrestrial ones when measuring climate change mitigation effectiveness. Half a kilogram of marine plant material can sequester as much as 1,000 kgs of plant material on land due to unique chemical processes within marine sediments

Ministers Shea and Prentice:

We the undersigned are writing to urge you to take a leading role in combating climate change by protecting Canada%u2019s remaining seagrass meadows and salt marshes with networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) as part of an integrated ocean management plan. These are among the world%u2019s most efficient carbon sequestration ecosystems on the planet. They remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere then store it in a stable solid form in marine sediments beneath their roots for thousands of years. Protecting them is an important step among the range of strategies necessary to address global climate change.

Recently the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) recommended that 80 percent of all such habitat types be immediately protected worldwide. Carbon sequestering ecosystems in British Columbia are under threat from both development and pollution. Protecting them makes sense in the battle against climate change and from many other angles including the ecosystem services these habitats provide. As an international leader on oceans issues, Canada needs to set an example by taking action to protect its carbon sequestering ecosystems. This will also help Canada meet its international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity to establish a national network of MPAs by 2012.

Improved management of the coastal and marine environments through initiatives such as the Pacific Coast Integrated Management Area process, should be designed to include the protection and restoration of estuarine carbon sequestering habitats. This will  provide one of the strongest win-win mitigation efforts known today, as it will deliver value-added benefits well in excess of its costs.

Sincerely,