Are Municipalities Ready for Integrating Blue Carbon Concepts?: Content Analysis of Coastal Management Plans in the Philippines

Abstract The blue carbon ecosystems are gaining salience in the international arena due to their intrinsic role in climate change mitigation. Reviews on management strategies and plans at the local level are largely overlooked, although they are crucial factors in translating commitments to contextualized actions for sustainable management. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the present coastal management plans for blue carbon ecosystem management strategies using content analysis of the local plans of select municipalities in the Philippines. The analysis generated eight (8) clusters based on keywords focusing on mangrove and seagrass ecosystems, namely: ecological profile, ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, tourism, natural threats, anthropogenic threats, laws, policies, & ordinances, and management activities. The management activities cluster has the most coverage while the carbon sequestration cluster is the least mentioned. There is also a distinct gap in the inclusion of mangroves compared to seagrasses in the coastal management plans where these ecosystems are present in the localities concerned. Mangrove ecosystems are frequently mentioned, covering all clusters while seagrass ecosystems are discussed to less extent in only five (5) clusters. This study also showed that the “blue carbon” concept is not yet fully incorporated in the current management plans where carbon sequestration cluster is only discussed under mangrove ecosystems in one of the sites while no discussions for seagrasses’ “blue carbon” functions. The results of this study can serve as a benchmark for local policy-makers in updating their present management plans particularly in branching their focus on integrated management of seagrass ecosystems and advancing technical capacity and knowledge on blue carbon ecosystems.