Teal carbon ecosystems are freshwater wetlands, like lakes, ponds, farm dams and reservoirs. Equivalent to blue carbon (coastal wetlands), they can regulate greenhouse gases and mitigate the effects of climate change. However, land-use change, pollution, water extraction, and landscape modification can release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

Simple management interventions, such as fencing farm dams to exclude livestock or rewetting freshwater wetlands, can help change these systems from a source of pollution (carbon sources) to becoming part of the solution (carbon sinks).

In this presentation, Martino will share insights from his team’s work on farm dams, freshwater wetlands, and wastewater lagoons. He will highlight new technologies for monitoring carbon emissions (e.g., Pondi loggers), explore the ecological and biodiversity benefits of restoring degraded sites, examine the social drivers behind sustainable land management, and discuss emerging financial mechanisms that support freshwater conservation through carbon and biodiversity initiatives.

About the Speaker

Dr Martino Malerba is a DECRA Fellow and senior lecturer at RMIT University. His laboratory studies freshwater wetlands – both natural (e.g., wetlands), and artificial (e.g., farm dams, reservoirs, wastewater lagoons). He collaborates with the Australian National Carbon Inventory team to model carbon emissions from freshwater systems and to develop innovative financial incentives, such as carbon credit methodologies, to promote wetland restoration and management.