Friends of Herring River to Take on ‘Blue Carbon’ at 9th Annual Meeting

WELLFLEET – Friends of Herring River will be hosting their 9^th annual meeting later this month and they are hoping that you will join them.

The event will feature a lecture from guest speaker Dr. Kevin Kroeger, a research biogeochemist with the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.

In his presentation, Kroeger will delve into the regionally and globally significant role that healthy salt marshes and other coastal wetlands on Cape Cod play in addressing climate change through Blue Carbon.

Blue Carbon is a term used to describe carbon captured and retained by coastal wetlands and seagrass beds. According to Kroeger, these natural habitats store massive amounts of carbon that would otherwise contribute to global climate change.

Carbon storage is now recognized as a significant public benefit of coastal wetland restoration projects such as the Herring River Restoration Project.

Friends of Herring River report that by increasing tide range and saltwater inundation in the Herring River, hundreds of tons of carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas would be buried within the floodplain soils as they build and increase in elevation.

The Friends of Herring River Annual Meeting featuring Dr. Kevin Kroeger will take place on Tuesday, August 15^th at 6PM at the Wellfleet Council on Aging. The event is free and open to the public.