Monitoring Kelp Forest Ecosystems
Without accurate monitoring, it's impossible to fully understand the ecological, cultural, and economic benefits of kelp forests—or the success of interventions to protect and restore them.
We Need Kelp Forests
As vital ecosystems, kelp forests support a wide range of life, from tiny invertebrates to large marine mammals. Kelp provides food, shelter, and breeding grounds for countless species, including salmon, herring, sea otters, and even orcas. This rich habitat is essential for maintaining life both in the ocean and on land.
However, over 50% of kelp forests have been lost or degraded in the past 50 years primarily due to climate change and ecosystem imbalances. The need to protect and restore these critical ecosystems has never been more urgent.
But you can't restore what you can't measure!
Our Underwater Livestream
Our Kelp Forest Monitoring Guidebook
Proper Monitoring Makes It Possible To:
By consistently measuring kelp growth and tracking the return of marine species at our restoration sites, we can better understand whether our conservation efforts are helping to rebuild healthy, functioning ecosystems.
Because monitoring helps us understand which kelp forest restoration approaches are effective and which need improvement, we can use these insights to adapt future projects and increase the likelihood of success.
Because kelp restoration is a relatively new field of ocean conservation, the insights gained from monitoring data can be shared with researchers and restoration groups around the world to help fill knowledge gaps in the industry.
