Welcome to your SeaTrees project!
Thanks for partnering with SeaTrees to restore seagrass and macroalgae in Mallorca, Spain! We’ve created this doc to help you share the impact you’re having and inspire your community to follow in your footsteps. Think of this doc as a detailed FAQ - a way to guide the conversation. For larger partners, we're happy to explore bespoke ideas.
We use our social channels (mainly Instagram) to promote our brand partners and newsletter, which is featured on our website, to highlight specific things our brand partners are doing that align with our mission and impact. Follow us: @sea.trees
Scroll to the bottom of your dashboard to access all the media assets provided to you for this project.
What’s our mission/vision?
On World Ocean Day on June 8, 2024, we announced our second major milestone of 4 million SeaTrees planted + protected.
We're already working hard to find quality new projects where we can work together to plant the next Million SeaTrees. Longer-term, our goal is to support 100 blue carbon projects in threatened coastal ecosystems by 2030, in turn becoming a global leader in developing blue carbon projects.
We believe the ocean has superpowers, and we can work with it to reverse climate change. But there's no time to waste. The global scientific consensus is clear that we have the next 10 years to reduce our collective carbon footprint to avoid passing a catastrophic climate tipping point.
Thousands of people and hundreds of brands have joined us on our mission to take action on climate change by regenerating coastal ecosystems. We’re excited to work with YOU to enable and enhance the ocean’s superpowers.
Superpowers?
Yep, 90% of all carbon in the global carbon cycle is stored in the ocean. This is where it should be sequestered to reverse climate change.
Mangrove forests “suck” aka sequester, 5-10 times more CO2 out of the atmosphere per hectare than tropical rainforests. Much of that carbon is stored in the soil and sediment that make up a mangrove ecosystem.
Globally, kelp forests sequester as much CO2 as mangrove forests. 10% of kelp breaks off and sinks into the deep ocean - sequestering the CO2 it contains. The conservation of these ecosystems is critical to solving climate change and will protect the habitats of over 700 species of algae, invertebrates, and fish.
Known as the “rainforests of the sea,” coral reefs are the largest living structures on earth and support 25% of marine life. The conservation of these ecosystems is vital to coastal protection, scientific research, medication, fishing, eco-tourism, and more.
Where are we restoring seagrass and algae right now and what impact is it having?
SeaTrees is working in collaboration with The Cleanwave Foundation, a Mediterranean based non-profit, on their MedGardens Seagrass and Algae Restoration Project which seeks to holistically restore the marine ecosystem surrounding the well known tourist destination of Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. This is our first-ever seagrass restoration project, supporting the restoration of one of three sites at Formentor, covering an area of 53,820 sq-ft.
The project employs a variety of methods to achieve its goals, including research, marine debris removal, community engagement through education, hands-on training and volunteer opportunities, educational signage, and the promotion of a blue economy. The project has also collaborated with local authorities to implement more sustainable mooring equipment, which is vital in an area with high boat traffic.
In recent decades, seaweed forests have experienced significant declines and are under serious threat from human activities. Seagrass covers approximately 177,000 km2 worldwide, but between 7% and 19% of its current surface (roughly 33,000 km2) has been lost, equivalent to more than 4 million football fields. In the Mediterranean alone, an estimated 446 km2 (over 62,000 football fields) have been lost.
Small plots of shallow coastal seabed are used for transplanting or reinforcing algae and seagrass communities. These areas function as social and environmental laboratories where science and citizens collaborate to enhance the marine knowledge and participation of the people through citizen science. Regenerated underwater forests create new habitats that support the growth of other plant and animal species, contributing to the restoration of biodiversity and promoting productivity that benefits society.
To learn more, please visit the project page on our website here.
How is my “donation” spent?
Most of the money we receive for a specific project goes toward that project. This includes the restoration itself, as well as assessments/auditing of the project, site visits and regular meetings with the project managers, developing content and stories, and updating our website with progress updates.
We hold a portion of the donation to invest in new and start-up blue carbon and research projects that meet our assessment criteria.
Like all non-profits, we also use a portion to fund the operations of our organization. As a registered non-profit, our financials are publicly available - and approximately 15-20% of our income goes towards operational expenses.a
About Seatrees
Seatrees is a nonprofit organization that restores and protects coastal ecosystems around the world to reverse climate change, enhance biodiversity, and support local communities. We use a science-based approach to regenerate coral reefs, kelp forests, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and coastal watersheds. Our projects support local community restoration efforts and provide tangible ways for individuals and brands to create a more resilient planet for future generations.
Why coastal marine ecosystems?
Unlike other tree planting and carbon offset programs and projects around the world, the sole focus of Seatrees is on blue carbon coastal ecosystems. As surfers and ocean-lovers, we choose these spaces because they’re places where we play. As environmentalists and ocean-health activists, we focus on blue carbon ecosystems because:
- They’re highly effective at carbon sequestration.
- They’re critical ecosystems on the verge of collapse.
- Methods exist to restore and regenerate these ecosystems.
- The story to protect ocean health is powerful and compelling.
- It’s not too late to act, but we must act fast.
Why Seagrass?
Seagrasses are underwater flowering plants with deep roots (up to 4 ft.) that provide critical ecosystem services around the world. They form dense underwater beds, or meadows, some even large enough to be seen from space.
Similar to other blue carbon ecosystems, seagrasses have proven to be incredibly efficient in sequestering carbon, up to twice as much as the average terrestrial forest. As one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, seagrasses absorb carbon dioxide from the ocean and atmosphere and store it in their biomass, where it accumulates over time, and is eventually stored in the soil for millennia.
Seagrass meadows provide critical shelter, habitat, and food to a wide range of species, including sea turtles and manatees.
They also filter sediment and other nutrients from the water, improving water quality and acting as storm, flooding, and erosion buffers.
The annual global loss of seagrass is approximately 1.5%, and currently, about 29% of Earth’s seagrass ecosystems have been lost. This amounts to about 2 football fields of seagrass lost each hour. Human activities and climate change impacts are continuously putting these meadows, and all the species that depend on them, and a dangerous risk. Development, polluted runoff, climate change, deforestation, dredging, and fishing practices are just a few of the threats facing our remaining seagrass meadows.
How do you ensure the impact is happening?
We have a thorough vetting process for every new project we consider. We support a limited number of projects that meet our criteria and can prove that ‘SeaTrees’ are not only being planted, but that they are being protected in the longer term.
The process we go through is underpinned by science and many years of experience managing large-scale restoration and carbon sequestration projects. It’s a long process built on these seven SeaTrees questions:
- Is this project connected to the ocean?
- Who's the planting partner, and how credible are they?
- Is it a region that people are interested in, and how often can we get there?
- Does this place have global/political issues? Any other red flags?
- How does this project align with the UN SDG's? What social impact does this have?
- Do the economics of this project stack up?
- Is this a scalable solution?
We visit all of our projects on an annual basis (more often if we can), and we require our project partners to provide regular updates.
Please share some visuals with us!
We’ll use relevant content from your website and social channels, but if you have any specific please let us know and we’ll determine whether it fits with our brand.
Do share your logo! We’ll display it proudly on our Brand Partners page.
Media Assets
