SaafConsult BV Water and Environment

CARBOWET, a SaafConsult B.V. initiative, specializes in the provision of support services and technical assistance for the long-term sustainable management of public and private wetlands. The initiative works on:
• Effective environmental management, including wetland restoration / rehabilitation and human capacity building; and
• Sustainable financing for long-term wetland conservation and protection through the trading of captured carbon credits.
Established in 2008 and administered by SaafConsult B.V. in The Netherlands, CarboWet draws on the experience and support of its select group of highly qualified and experienced consultants living across the world.

Why do we care about wetlands?
There is increasing evidence for anthropogenically-accelerated global warming and there is rapidly growing public concern over the effective management of global greenhouse gases. CarboWet’s restoration and conservation of wetlands represent a critical part of management efforts in the creation of a network of potent carbon sinks.
Over the past century, some 60% of the world’s wetlands have been lost to urban development and agricultural activities. Making matters worse, pollution and groundwater extraction are seriously threatening the remaining systems.
Recent studies show that wetlands are, quite simply, champions at carbon storage (the best of these being saltwater marshes due to higher levels of naturally-occurring sulphates); however, this also often implies that their degradation results in the release of large amounts of methane.

As such, restoration of these wetlands serves multiple purposes, including improved biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning, and enhancing the available much-needed ecosystem services and benefits (such as flood prevention, carbon sequestration and provision for traditional medicines and food), as well as the opportunity for the management of these systems to be self-financing through the sale of carbon credits, thereby ensuring long-term sustainability.

A 5-year US Geological Survey experiment in wetlands created on abandoned farmlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta showed a staggering 3,000 grams of carbon captured per m2 per year! By comparison, reforested agricultural land, currently eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol only captures an average of about 100 g-C/ m2/year. (Pelley, J. (2008) “Can wetland restoration cool the planet?” Environ. Sci. Technol. 42(24): 8994-8994)

Wetland management
The restoration of degraded wetlands is undertaken as a partnership between CarboWet and local conservation agencies and environmental authorities.
Physical wetland restoration entails the formation of an overall wetland strategy, based on (a) studies of the current and historical attributes of the site, and (b) the development of a plan for the restoration of both hydrological and biological processes (including the ongoing management of invasive species).
As with most conservation initiatives, CarboWet believes that, besides financial sustainability, the long-term effective management of any ecosystem depends largely on the technical skills of the staff mandated to manage the systems. As such, capacity building and training will be formally included in any conservation programme initiated by CarboWet.

Azraq Wetlands (Jordan)

Carbon trading
To date, much of the global focus to date has been on understanding and developing suitable internationally accepted carbon capture methodologies for peatlands and forests. As a result, assessment methodologies for sequestered carbon in wetlands remains at the very early stages of development, particularly due to uncertainty surrounding methane fluxes prevalent in freshwater wetland systems. In spite of these challenges, CarboWet firmly believes that all wetlands form a critical part of the global carbon sink network and, as such, deserve serious attention.

To ensure long-term support for and sustainability of wetland conservation around the world, CarboWet is committed to the development of an internationally accepted Carbon Assessment Methodology for Wetlands. In the interim period, CarboWet will work with the owners / managers of public and private wetlands to explore the sale of carbon credits captured from the standing biomass and available peat. Furthermore, opportunities for the sale of other “nutrient credits”, such as for the bioremediation of nitrogen and phosphorus, will also be encouraged and supported.
What can CarboWet do for you?

CarboWet’s team of international experts will assist owners / managers in the rehabilitation, restoration and effective management of their public and private wetlands to the point of enabling the application of an independent 3rd party carbon credit audit. In anticipation of passing auditing process and obtaining certification, CarboWet will work with the same owners / managers to design, develop and implement a tailor-made sustainable financing plan comprised primarily of carbon credit trading and, where requested, alternative financing strategies (such as payment for ecosystem services and benefits, tourism plans, etc.) to ensure that conservation efforts have the necessary monetary resources to be consistent and effective. Upon agreement and for a small fee, CarboWet will also trade the certified carbon credits on behalf of the wetland management authority.