BLUESTOCK

Summary

The BLUESTOCK project is an initiative focused on the study, conservation, and sustainable management of Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows in the Bay of Portlligat, Girona. Its main focus is the key role these ecosystems play as sinks of "Blue Carbon," contributing to mitigating climate change.

The project is based on the premise that the lack of a secure, fast, and cost-effective methodology to measure these carbon sinks has led to an underestimation of their global size, thereby hindering the development of carbon offset projects.

To address this, BLUESTOCK proposes developing an innovative and non-destructive method to quantify carbon stocks. This method will use advanced technologies such as geoacoustics, autonomous vehicles, drones, satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence, also allowing the exploration of "hidden" carbon deposits beneath sediment layers, which have so far been overlooked.

The main objectives are:

Evaluate the long-term changes and the factors affecting the grasslands.
Quantify the spatial and temporal variations of carbon stocks in sediments.
Develop the new non-invasive methodology to monitor these stocks.
Develop a carbon offset project based on the installation of ecological or low-impact moorings to prevent CO2 emissions caused by seabed erosion.