Launching the Second Edition of the High-Quality Blue Carbon Practitioners Guide
Building on the strong foundation of the first release, Conservation International, ORRAA and partners across the high-quality blue carbon (HQBC) community have launched the second edition of the High-Quality Blue Carbon Practitioners Guide, an updated and more practical resource to support impactful blue carbon projects worldwide.
The original Guide was a key tool linking definitions of “high-quality” blue carbon with real world project development and financing, creating a shared understanding among practitioners, investors, and stakeholders. The Practitioners Guide is grounded in the High-Quality Blue Carbon Principles and Guidance, which set out a common framework for delivering strong outcomes for climate, nature, and people.
Drawing on a year of hands-on experience – including testing, user feedback, and workshops with project implementers – the second edition is more actionable and aligned with practitioners’ needs on the ground. Its structure follows the stages of project development, from early concepts through planning to implementation, and brings together a wider range of tools and resources.
What’s New in the Second Edition
Key updates include:
- A clearer structure aligned with the full project lifecycle, from early ideas through planning and implementation
- A broader and more integrated set of tools and resources to support high-quality project design
- Stronger grounding in real world application through case studies
Featured examples include Vida Manglar in Colombia, Mikoko Pamoja in Kenya, West Africa Blue in Sierra Leone and Guinea, and The Solent Seascape Project in the United Kingdom, among others. These case studies demonstrate how high-quality blue carbon projects can be designed, financed, and implemented to deliver durable impact.
Supporting Scale and Global Adoption
The growing use of the HQBC Principles is reflected in global initiatives such as the Mangrove Breakthrough’s focus to drive forward high-quality projects at scale and their use in emerging standards such as 2026 Symbiosis Coalition Quality Standard, where they underpin much of the assessment criteria for mangrove projects.