The UK Saltmarsh Specialist Forum was held at the University of Hull in June 2022. The Forum has been organised and Chaired by Angus Garbutt (UKCEH) since 2009 and aims to give people and organisations that have a national remit in policy, advocacy, academia or delivery the opportunity to meet, network and share information for the benefit of UK saltmarshes and the wider ecosystem. Presentations aim to keep the group up-to-date with current policies, strategies, projects and issues and delegates are encouraged to support, collaborate and share information across groups and sectors.
The 2022 meeting set a record with 50 people attending in person and another 20 joining online. Presentations covered national and regional initiatives, policy drivers, new research, and the growing interest and funding for saltmarshes from a blue carbon perspective. Talks concluded with emphasis on the need to bring biodiversity networks and responses to climate change up the agenda in future projects, policies and funding.
The first UK Blue Carbon Forum Saltmarsh Working Group meeting was held the next day, hosted by the University of Hull and chaired by James Robinson, Director of Conservation for WWT. The meeting brought together experts from across the UK to share the latest information on the blue carbon policy landscape, the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the saltmarsh Blue Carbon Code. This was followed by a series of talks describing the various projects and studies assessing carbon stocks and flows within created and natural saltmarshes of the UK and Ireland. The meeting highlighted how many organisations have an interest in blue carbon research which ranged from essential descriptive work, through quantifying the huge potential of managed realignment sites to store carbon and offset construction emissions, through to more detailed studies on greenhouse gases and water-borne exchanges. The meeting finished with a discussion on the various ways to measure and monitor stocks and flows and delegates concluded that there was a need to standardise units and methodologies.
Following the meeting there has been general agreement that a follow-up workshop should be held in autumn 2022. The purpose of the workshop would be to agree and standardise methods and instrumentation to measure and monitor saltmarsh carbon stocks and flows in a way that that meets both project specific and national data needs in addition to contributing to international standards and goals.
