New research shows that dugongs, the marine mammals known as sea cows, can more than double the amount of carbon stored in seagrass meadows. The study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science and supported by IFAW, found that seagrass grazed by dugongs in Bahrain stored over twice as much carbon as comparable meadows without them. Seagrass covers only 0.2% of the seafloor but captures carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, making it a critical blue carbon ecosystem. The findings add to a growing scientific consensus that wildlife plays an overlooked role in natural climate solutions. Over 260 scientists recently launched the Scientific Consensus on Wildlife and Climate, arguing that climate policies must account for how animals like dugongs, forest elephants, and sea otters help ecosystems store carbon. For carbon markets and climate finance, this means that protecting wildlife could be a measurable part of blue carbon projects and nature based offsets. For anyone tracking natural climate solutions or blue carbon credits, this study provides concrete evidence that megafauna grazing behavior directly affects carbon storage rates. It suggests that conservation of dugongs is not just about biodiversity but also about maintaining the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrass ecosystems. Policymakers and project developers should consider integrating wildlife protection into blue carbon strategies.
