Reviving our oceans: The crucial role of kelp in restoring ocean health
Kelp is a natural climate solution that captures and sequesters carbon all on its own.
When you look out at the ocean, it seems so vast, with an endless horizon. But beneath the surface, the health of the ocean is declining.
My grandfather was a cod fisherman, but I didn’t have that option after the fishery collapsed due to unsustainable overfishing in Newfoundland. That’s why I became a climate change reporter.
The Weather Network recently partnered with Ocean Wise to help raise awareness of kelp forests as a critical tool for fighting climate change as well as helping coastlines to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
I got to speak with Lasse Gustavsson, who is CEO of the not-for-profit organization. He says their focus is hands-on conservation, actively planting kelp, often in collaboration with Indigenous communities in British Columbia and Chile.
The first thing I think of when I hear “kelp” is my foot brushing up against it while swimming and thinking, “Ahh, it’s so slimy!”
Sliminess aside, it turns out kelp is a natural climate solution that’s capturing and sequestering carbon all on its own.
Gustavsson explained that kelp forests serve as biodiversity powerhouses, offering shelter, food, and nursery grounds for hundreds of marine species, and act as a climate ally by rapidly absorbing carbon dioxide, protecting coastlines from erosion, and buffering wave energy.
He says kelp is harvested for various products, including food, fertilizer, cosmetics, and biodegradable packaging, making kelp farming a low-impact, high-benefit industry, particularly for Indigenous Nations, who have stewarded Canada’s waters for generations, and coastal communities.
Ocean Wise believes kelp forests are foundational for life both underwater and on land. They support an astonishing array of biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services that help mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Unfortunately, though, kelp forests are currently in danger. Over the last 50 years, kelp forests around the world have declined at a significant rate due to climate change, ecosystem imbalances, and ocean pollution. And with half of existing kelp forests being degraded or damaged, Ocean Wise believes the need for restoration has never been more pressing.
Kelp is considered an ecosystem engineer, forming complex and intricate habitats that support biodiverse and productive communities. Ocean Wise has a goal of protecting and restoring these habitats through a process known as seaforestation. This includes various techniques for transplanting kelp into the ocean, such as the green gravel method, which involves growing kelp on movable materials like gravel, rocks, and even oyster shells – a North American first – before transporting them to restoration sites. The Ocean Wise Kelp Nursery, situated at the Pacific
The Enterprise Science Centre focuses on refining these restoration methods. The work enables them to broaden their impact by sharing successful conservation insights and lessons learned with other kelp restoration groups who can apply them to their projects as well.
