Protecting Seagrass through Payments for Ecosystem Services: A Community Guide

United Nations Environment Programme

Protecting Seagrass through Payments for Ecosystem Services: A Community Guide

dc.contributor.author	United Nations Environment Programme
dc.contributor.organization	Ecosystems Division
dc.contributor.other	Shilland, Robyn
dc.contributor.other	Wanjiru, Anne
dc.contributor.other	Mohamed, Ahmed
dc.contributor.other	Grimsditch, Gabriel
dc.contributor.other	Huxham, Mark
dc.date.accessioned	2020-05-13T08:13:08Z
dc.date.available	2020-05-13T08:13:08Z
dc.date.issued	2020-05
dc.description	This community guide presents a structured overview of how community-based conservation can be applied to protect seagrass ecosystems through Payments for Ecosystem Services mechanisms. It explains the ecological importance of seagrass meadows, emphasizing their roles in supporting fisheries, reducing coastal erosion, and storing significant amounts of carbon in sediments, while also documenting the scale and drivers of global seagrass loss. The document situates seagrass conservation within the context of climate change and highlights gaps in existing legal and institutional protection. It outlines the rationale for community-led management, detailing governance, financial planning, scientific capacity, community engagement, benefit sharing, and legal rights as core requirements. A substantial portion is dedicated to explaining Payments for Ecosystem Services, with particular attention to carbon-based approaches, including principles such as permanence, leakage, and additionality. The guide describes project design, monitoring, certification, reporting, and market participation, supported by a case study from coastal Kenya. Overall, it functions as a global, non-prescriptive reference intended to guide communities and project developers in designing viable, accountable seagrass conservation initiatives linked to measurable ecosystem service outcomes.	en
dc.format	Text
dc.identifier.uri	https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/32277
dc.language	English
dc.language	French
dc.language	Spanish
dc.page.number	28 p.
dc.rights.accessLevel	Public
dc.subject	ecosystem
dc.subject	climate change
dc.subject	marine resources conservation
dc.subject	seagrass
dc.subject	community development
dc.subject	community participation
dc.subject	payments for ecosystem service
dc.title	Protecting Seagrass through Payments for Ecosystem Services: A Community Guide	en
dc.title.alternative	Protéger les Herbiers Marins en se Servant des Paiements Pour Services Ecosystémiques: Guide Communautaire	fr
dc.title.alternative	La Protección de las Praderas Marinas Mediante el Pago por los Servicios de los Ecosistemas	es
dc.type	Communication or other resource