Canadian ‘climate action’ company to test its green gravel for kelp forest restoration
Cascadia Seaweed will test its technology off the coast of Nova Scotia this summer
Cascadia Seaweed, a British Columbia-based climate-action company, will test its kelp forest-restoration technology this summer off the coast of Nova Scotia.
The company will deliver a self-contained, modular Green Gravel Production System (GGPS) for testing at the National Research Council of Canada’s Marine Research Station in Ketch Harbour this summer, complete with electrical and plumbing systems, equipment, protocols and training optimized for reforesting sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima). The technology and protocols can also be modified for other kelp species, the company noted.
“Green gravel is a promising kelp restoration method which has gained significant international attention. As kelp deforestation continues, immediate action is required to mitigate further kelp declines and look towards methods that can help bolster existing kelp ecosystems. Cascadia Seaweed has the opportunity to advance this technology and help green gravel meet its full potential,” says Dr. Jennifer Clark, chief scientist at Cascadia Seaweed.
Kelp forests are productive ecosystems experiencing a global decline due to warming ocean temperatures, pollution and other human activities. The NRC-Cascadia work is being done through the Innovative Solutions Canada funding program.
Kelp parachutes: Green gravel reforestation projects showing promise
In 2020, a kelp restoration method called ‘green gravel’ was published in Nature Scientific Reports by Fredriksen et al offering a path forward for large-scale kelp restoration projects. This method inoculates (or seeds) natural substrates such as gravel with kelp spores in a controlled environment or in laboratory conditions. Growth is monitored in a nursery until the kelp is mature enough to be out-planted in a marine environment with the intention of creating a new kelp forest.
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