Lisa Benson

• MSc
• Marine Ecologist at Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

Continental shelf sediments store large amounts of organic carbon. Protecting this carbon from release back into the marine system and managing the marine environment to maximize its rate of accumulation could both play a role in mitigating climate change. For these reasons, in the context of an expanding “Blue Carbon” concept, research interest in...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face complex socio-economic and environmental threats, making them particularly vulnerable to climate change. Blue Carbon (BC) ecosystems (mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows) provide climate regulation services by sequestering and storing carbon, presenting an opportunity for SIDS to address...

Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs) help mitigate and adapt to climate change but their integration into policy, such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), remains underdeveloped. Most BCE conservation requires community engagement, hence community-scale projects must be nested within the implementation of NDCs without compromising livelihoods o...

This study, conducted under the auspices of the Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme (CMEP), involved the characterisation of geomorphology and benthic assemblage groups around the previously unmapped western St. Lucian coastline. A high-resolution (2 x 2 m) seabed map was then produced, specifically focussing on the economically important regio...

Seagrasses are globally important, but their extent is decreasing due to the impact of human activities and changing climatic conditions. Seagrass meadows provide vital services, but their condition and distribution are not yet well known, particularly in many small tropical Pacific islands. In 2018, observations and samples were collected from int...

Global mangrove deforestation has resulted in substantial CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, but the extent of emissions from soil organic carbon (C) loss remains difficult to assess. Here, we sampled five intact and five deforested mangrove plots from Tsimipaika Bay, Madagascar, to examine the loss of soil C in the 10 years since deforestation. We e...

Introduction Small island developing states (SIDS) have growing populations which are often limited in land-based resources but frequently have access to abundant marine resources. Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector worldwide and has the potential to provide greater food security in a changing environment and economic benefits for local...

With the growing recognition that effective action on climate change will require a combination of emissions reductions and carbon sequestration, protecting, enhancing and restoring natural carbon sinks have become political priorities. Mangrove forests are considered some of the most carbon-dense ecosystems in the world with most of the carbon sto...

Of the numerous ecosystem services mangroves provide, carbon storage is gaining particular attention for its potential role in climate change mitigation strategies. Madagascar contains 2% of the world’s mangroves, over 20% of which is estimated to have been deforested through charcoal production, timber extraction and agricultural development. This...

Madagascar contains Africa’s fourth largest extent of mangroves, representing approximately 2% of the global distribution. Since 1990, more than 20% of Madagascar’s mangrove ecosystems have been heavily degraded or deforested due primarily to increased harvest for charcoal and timber and the expansion of agriculture and aquaculture. Anthropogenic-d...

Mangrove ecosystems help mitigate climate change, are highly biodiverse, and provide critical goods and services to coastal communities. Despite their importance, anthropogenic activities are rapidly degrading and deforesting mangroves world-wide. Madagascar contains 2% of the world’s mangroves, many of which have undergone or are starting to exhib...

Mangroves are found throughout the tropics, providing critical ecosystem goods and services to coastal communities and supporting rich biodiversity. Globally, mangroves are being rapidly degraded and deforested at rates exceeding loss in many tropical inland forests. Madagascar contains around 2% of the global distribution, >20% of which has been d...