A non-profit has reduced the potential size of a UK marine voluntary biodiversity credit project by approximately 89%, down from the 52,200 hectares initially considered, to ensure the initiative is as credible as possible, Carbon Pulse has learned.

The area expected to generate credits in the Solent strait between the Isle of Wight and England is now around 6,000 ha, and could be reduced further to just 100 ha in the first phase, said Kaija Barisa, senior economist at Blue Marine Foundation.

However, the non-profit feels positive about the prospects of the initiative and is considering moving towards generating credits from two other projects (see below).

Blue Marine Foundation has been working on the initiative, now focused on Chichester and Langstone harbours, with standard setter Plan Vivo for the last two years.

“We want to focus on a small-scale trial first and ensure this is done well. The cost of really robust and intensive digital monitoring across 6,000 ha is high across multiple different habitats,” said Barisa.

The pilot is part of the Solent Seascape Project, a long-term initiative with 10 organisations working to restore seagrasses, oyster reefs, saltmarshes, and seabird nesting habitats across 52,200 ha.

Saltmarsh in the Solent. Credit: Matt Jarvis

Blue Marine Foundation is hoping to start gathering the baseline credit metrics, from which future measurements can show uplift, early next year. The credits could then be issued in 2027 at the earliest.

Although the credit project has been reduced in size, it could expand in the future as its managers become more experienced.

Released in 2023, the Plan Vivo biodiversity certificate standard requires five metrics to calculate change over land or marine environments. One unit represent a 1% gain in biodiversity per ha annually.

CHALLENGES

Plan Vivo’s standard requires taking sampling points that can be placed anywhere within the initiative, so all areas must be measurable and show nature uplift.

As a result, Blue Marine Foundation, supported by University of Portsmouth researchers, focuses on zones it is more actively conserving.

It is also focussed on more accessible areas. “In an area like the Solent, one of the busiest waterways in Europe, it’s really difficult to be able to randomly take samples,” said Barisa.

“A lot of these requirements require really good visibility, a relatively consistent tide, so you can [gather data] in the same place. With incredibly turbulent waters like we have in the Solent, it can be really difficult.”

In addition, Plan Vivo, with data partner Pivotal, requires credit projects to use digital data as much as possible, so it can be verified, from sources such as videos, bioacoustics, and satellites.

Gathering this kind of data can be expensive, while moving away from more traditional ways of monitoring that people have been doing in the Solent for a long time, like counting fish, said Barisa. Blue Marine Foundation is exploring ways to adapt these older methods to include digital records.

Plan Vivo said working with the Blue Marine Foundation has helped it better understand how to track biodiversity within complex seascapes. Another marine pilot using its standard is restoring mangroves in Honduras.

DEMAND

Any credits generated from the Solent will be exclusively nature positive, rather than used for offsetting.

Projects using the Plan Vivo methodology must market the credits themselves. Blue Marine Foundation will have to vet buyers to ensure they are not using the units for offsetting, Barisa said.

“We’ve engaged with a lot of people who have interest in buying these credits. We’ve not selected anyone yet. The dream is that the credits are bought by local companies making real efforts to enhance sustainability in other ways.”

“The funding for the Solent should be generated by local communities, local businesses, and local industries.”

FUTURE PROJECTS

On top of the Solent, Blue Marine Foundation is considering starting two biodiversity credit projects around the world of up to 1,000 ha each.

“We’re looking at a couple of other project sites in the Indian Ocean and around the Mediterranean. They are between 500 and 1,000 ha, relatively smaller sizes for feasibility and cost effectiveness.”

“Because lots of these projects are community run they don’t necessarily have the resources to pay for all of these tools that you need to be able to monitor under the Plan Vivo methodology, so it’s important to do small-scale trials first.”

Other sources of financing for conservation projects in the marine space are few and far between, as there are no other ways of monetising nature uplift, she said.

“If we can make this work, it is going to be huge, particularly for the marine space, to be able to fund these types of conservation projects. To be able to use biodiversity impacts to continue funding the project is an incredible opportunity.”

“It might start shifting the dial to nature neutral, or hopefully to positive.”

In June, researchers said establishing a voluntary market-based scheme that allows countries to trade ocean conservation credits could reduce the costs of marine protection by up to 98%.

By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com

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