Stewart-Sinclair, Phoebe, Qu, Zoe, Lam‐Gordillo, Orlando, Bulmer, Richard, Cummings, Vonda, and Lundquist, Carolyn (2026) Beyond Blue Carbon: Estimating the Value of Ecosystem Services Provided by Coastal Wetlands in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 60. e70056.

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Abstract

Blue carbon ecosystems (BCE), including mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrasses, provide essential functions and services globally but are increasingly challenged by climate change and other anthropogenic activities. In Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ), there is mounting interest in blue carbon as a nature-based solution to climate change. Quantifying the monetary co-benefits of BCE, in addition to carbon sequestration, can help illustrate the relative contribution of ecosystem services provided by existing habitats, as well as the potential additional value associated with restoration. Here, we estimated the value of provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services provided by BCE in Aotearoa NZ. We found that the most valuable ecosystem service provided by mangroves was carbon sequestration, while in saltmarsh and seagrass, the most valuable ecosystem services were waste treatment and existence, bequest values, respectively. Unit monetary valuations of ecosystem services range from NZD 3 ha−1 yr−1 (water flow regulation) to NZD 32,590 ha−1 yr−1 (climate regulation) for mangroves, NZD 8 ha−1 yr−1 (spiritual experience) to NZD 23,045 ha−1 yr−1 (waste treatment) for saltmarshes, and NZD 3 ha−1 yr−1 (water regulation) to NZD 14,512 ha−1 yr−1 (existence, bequest values) for seagrasses. The estimated national potential monetary value of ecosystem services provided by current habitats ranges from NZD 0.8–995  million yr−1 for mangroves (30,533 ha nationally), NZD 0.2–482 million yr−1 for saltmarshes (20,932 ha nationally), and NZD 0.2–216 million yr−1 for seagrasses (61,340 ha nationally). If drained areas were restored from drained agricultural use, values would increase accordingly. These results apply the benefit transfer approach (applying monetary values from analogous temperate ecosystems globally to estimate values in Aotearoa NZ) to generate indicative monetary benchmarks, which can help inform discussions around investment in BCE and long-term coastal climate change adaptation decision-making in Aotearoa NZ.

Item ID:	94425
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1175-8805
Copyright Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2026 The Author(s). New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Society of New Zealand Te Aparangi.
Date Deposited:	19 Oct 2026 23:32
FoR Codes:	38 ECONOMICS > 3801 Applied economics > 380105 Environment and resource economics @ 30% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4102 Ecological applications > 410204 Ecosystem services (incl. pollination) @ 20% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 50%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1802 Coastal and estuarine systems and management > 180201 Assessment and management of coastal and estuarine ecosystems @ 60% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1802 Coastal and estuarine systems and management > 180206 Rehabilitation or conservation of coastal or estuarine environments @ 40%
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