Abstract
National maps are essential to support the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of blue carbon ecosystems (BCE). This is particularly important for nations in the Indo-Pacific region, including Papua New Guinea (PNG), that aspire to integrate these ecosystems into their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) for ecosystem accounting. This study focussed on mapping the extent of BCEs in PNG using Earth observation data for the year 2020 and reporting on biomass and carbon storage services. Land cover categories were generated using the Living Earth framework for the 15 coastal provinces of PNG. The total BCE area in PNG (14,353 km²) comprised 30% mangrove, 65% lowland peat swamp forest, 3% saltmarsh, and 2% seagrass. Lowland peat swamp forests contribute the greatest biomass (137.94 ± 67.10 Tg) followed by mangroves (71.79 ± 27.16 Tg), with a total biomass of 212.99 ± 95.89 Tg. Across PNG, a total of 710.46 ± 362.75 Tg C were estimated for belowground carbon of BCEs (reporting to 1 m depth), almost seven times more than that of aboveground carbon (102.14 ± 45.97 Tg C). This study highlights the need for a consistent and standardised framework for mapping BCEs, which can support coordinated management of coastal landscapes across provinces that contribute to national policies and NDC reporting. This case study can be used as a demonstration for other nations where similar opportunities and challenges may exist for mapping BCE using Earth observations, with a framework that can be compared and adapted to user requirements.