Kelp forests can sequester carbon at a high rate, and Carbon finance could fund kelp forest
restoration projects globally.

BUT

Scientists cannot yet fully quantify carbon sequestration from kelp forests, and this holds back funding and policy development around kelp forest restoration.

Our Solution

Our $1.5M scientific study could unlock hundreds of millions of dollars for global kelp forest restoration.

Through an ambitious combination of science, policy and market mechanisms.

This is embodied in the BLUE+ idea

• Scientific research on kelp forest carbon
• Carbon market methodology development for long-term funding
• Policy development that values carbon, biodiversity, fishing, tourism, etc.

Kelp forests are highly dynamic ecosystems with complex carbon accounting. Only a multi-year study with multiple PI's studying biological, chemical and physical oceanography can quantify carbon sequestration with enough accuracy to produce a viable methodology.

1. Quantify atmospheric CO2 sequestered permanently in
the ocean

• Air-sea gas exchange
• Export of carbon to sediments and deep ocean
• Seasonal variability of kelp forests
• Effects of large storm events
• Carbon export via refractory DOC
  

2. Quantify carbon contained in a healthy kelp forest

• Total carbon conserved through kelp forest management