Canada’s blue carbon ecosystems—marshes, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests—play a quiet but crucial role in sequestering carbon. Yet understanding their extent and capacity, especially in remote regions, remains a challenge. National-scale carbon accounting efforts are hampered by a lack of community-driven, field-tested monitoring tools and methodologies.
Given the critical role these habitats play in reducing the effects of climate change, there is an emerging need to understand them. In response, the Hakai Institute adapted its British Columbia-based expertise in mapping and monitoring blue carbon habitats to coastal Newfoundland, and shared its methodologies with the Miawpukek FIrst Nation. The Nation aims to map eelgrass within its traditional territory, which is accessible by boat and land from the community of Conne River.
Hakai scientists provided hands-on field training to Miawpukek First Nation Guardians in a variety of areas, including sediment core collection and processing.. The initiative also produced publicly accessible training videos and hosted national webinars with partner WWF Canada to broaden reach and impact.
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (CPAWS-NL) compiled mapping information in cooperation with all partners and made it accessible through its coastal data hub. This information will support the Nation in long-term planning as it relates to their conservation, restoration, and stewardship priorities.
The collaboration continues through new projects investigating species distributions using eDNA, rooted in the spirit of partnership and shared stewardship.
Partners
The Hakai Institute partnered several organizations on this project, including the Miawpukek First Nation, a Mi’kmaq Nation on Newfoundland’s south coast that stewards lands and waters through Guardian programs and Indigenous science; CPAWS-NL, the provincial chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society focused on marine and terrestrial conservation; and WWF-Canada, a national NGO working to reverse wildlife loss and fight climate change by protecting and restoring nature. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the federal agency responsible for managing Canada's marine and freshwater habitats, provided project funding.
Timeframe
Project funding began in 2021, and hands-on field training with Miawpukek First Nation partners took place in summer 2023. Training videos and webinars followed through 2024.
Context
This work builds on nearly a decade of blue carbon research along Canada’s Pacific coast. Since 2015, Hakai scientists have mapped seagrass and marsh habitats, coauthored key national assessments and data syntheses, and developed practical monitoring methods. This project continues that lineage—exporting tools and knowledge while deepening relationships. It also dovetails into current efforts using eDNA to study species-at-risk distributions in Eastern Canada.
Outcomes
Hakai scientists expanded blue carbon monitoring capacity in an underserved region,
training Miawpukek First Nation Guardians in sediment sampling and field protocols. In collaboration with project partners, the initiative produced publicly available training videos and two national knowledge-sharing webinars with participants from British Columbia, James Bay, and Newfoundland—strengthening national collaboration on coastal carbon stewardship.
