GEOMAR  Research  Ongoing Projects

ZOBLUC: Zostera marina as a Blue Carbon Sink in the Baltic Sea

ACRONYM
ZOBLUC
Title
ZOBLUC: Zostera marina as a Blue Carbon Sink in the Baltic Sea
General information
How can seagrass help combat climate change? This question is the focus of the new research project ZOBLUC (“Zostera marina as a Blue Carbon Sink in the Baltic Sea”), which now starts under the leadership of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. The project aims to investigate the role of seagrass meadows as carbon sinks and to develop recommendations for their protection. Funded with around €6 million as part of the Natural Climate Protection Action Programme (ANK) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and the Ministry for Energy Conversion, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature of the State of Schleswig-Holstein (MEKUN), the project will run until September 2030. Seagrass meadows promote biodiversity, contribute to coastal protection by attenuating waves and improve water quality. They are also highly effective at storing carbon dioxide (CO₂), as the underwater plants sequester carbon in their leaves and roots as well as in the surrounding sediments. The GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, in cooperation with the Kiel University (CAU) and the State Office for the Environment of Schleswig-Holstein (Landesamt für Umwelt, LfU), has launched a new project to study the role of seagrass meadows as natural carbon sinks and to develop strategies for their conservation and restoration. The name of the project, ZOBLUC, stands for “Zostera marina as a Blue Carbon Sink in the Baltic Sea” – Zostera marina being the scientific name for seagrass. The project is funded by the German Federal Environment Ministry's Nature-based Climate Action Programme (ANK) and state funds, with a total budget of around €6 million.
Start
April, 2025
End
September, 2030
Funding (total)
6020000
Funding (GEOMAR)
3376000
Funding body / Programme
    Other / Ministerium für Energiewende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur Schleswig Holstein MEKUN
Coordination
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel (GEOMAR), Germany
Contact
Thorsten B.H. Reusch
Partners
State Agency for the Environment (LfU), Germany
Kiel University (CAU), Germany
Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Germany