Mr Aaron Eger1, Professor Adriana Verges1,2,3, Professor Peter Steinberg1,2,3, Ms. Norah Eddy4
1Kelp Forest Alliance, Australia, 2University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 3Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, Australia, 4The Nature Conservancy in California, Sacremento, USA
Local kelp forest restoration projects now span 16 countries and number in the hundreds. These projects are in response to noted declines of kelp forests around the globe and the desire to restore the benefits provided by kelp forests. However, our recent review shows that most projects have not succeeded in achieving this goal. Further, local projects are hindered due to a lack of available information and funding remains low as kelp forest restoration has not gained a large international profile. We have founded the Kelp Forest Alliance (KFA) to help address these problems. The KFA brings together persons and organizations (currently > 300) working on kelp forest ecosystems and aims to enhance the protection and restoration of these valuable ecosystems. In collaboration with the Nature Conservancy in California we published the first kelp restoration guidebook. This document walks helps new projects get started with the best available knowledge. Our restoration database allows users to upload information about new projects and effectively tracks the progress of global restoration efforts whilst ensuring that information will be spread easily. Restoration is a big goal, and we need a big ambition. We are hosting a kelp restoration summit to set a global target for restoration, raise the profile of kelp forests, and inspire new pledges to be made. As we grow, we are looking to build member participation, create new research working groups, provide the relevant information for kelp forest restoration, and promote the restoration of our underwater forests on the global stage.