Blue carbon ecosystem asset assessment frameworks

Blue carbon ecosystems are of significant value to coastal communities, providing essential support for socio-economic development. Blue carbon ecosystem assets are defined as marine ecological resources with clearly defined property rights that contribute directly or indirectly to socio-economic production, and which provide useful flows of products or services. The term "clear property rights" denotes the existence of a documented and legally enforceable claim to ownership or the rights to use, operate, benefit from, or dispose of marine ecosystem assets. BLue carbon ecosystem assets encompass marine biological assets, seawater assets, and surface seabed assets. The value of ecosystem assets can be defined as the stock value of the ecosystem as a whole, in terms of the provision of ecosystem services to humans. This paper presents a methodological system for assessing the quantity, quality and value of blue carbon ecosystem assets. The system has been constructed, validated for application and transformed into a Chinese national standard. This standard guides the national assessment of marine ecosystem assets and the determination of ecosystem baseline value. It also provides an important management tool for the performance evaluation of blue carbon ecosystem protection and restoration, ecosystem asset trading and ecological financial policies.