Seaweed

Blue Carbon Methodology Development of Seaweed Production

Millions of years ago, tiny ocean algae ignited life on Earth with oxygen production, creating an environment for life on Earth. Today, at the brink of climate emergency, algae seaweed is among the major solutions to our existential climate crisis. The algae is a powerhouse for the climate, storing carbon on the seafloor and regenerating its local marine environment. WIF is harnessing the power of seaweed algae to help enact urgent climate action, engaging and supporting local, vulnerable communities in the process.

Marine ecosystems, like seaweed, can absorb carbon at an exceptionally high rate. As well as taking carbon out of the air, seaweed also helps rehabilitate its immediate environment by lowering the acidity of the ocean. In doing so, this improves growing conditions for shellfish such as oysters and mussels, improving biodiversity. This is all in addition to being a source of highly nutritional food, medicines, fertilizers, renewable energy and biogas production, and above all, new opportunities for livelihoods in fishing communities. The benefits of seaweed are vast, and it is estimated that 48,000 square km of the world's oceans are suitable for seaweed cultivation, roughly six times the size of Australia. We must act now to produce and develop seaweed so that we can realize its full potential to combat the climate catastrophe before it is too late.

While most of the global seaweed initiatives are promoted by large industrial businesses with high capital investment, the methods employed by WIF are based on human capital, directly benefiting the coastal communities. The projects have therefore a high social development value. Today, more and more communities are signing up. Parallel with ongoing projects, we continue to improve our methods, constantly striving to achieve higher quality and increased financial benefits for all.

We build strong relationships with our partner communities. This is the core recipe for sustainable projects.

WIF has been conducting extensive research into the potential for seaweed projects and refining its methods to achieve the high success rate already demonstrated by its mangrove projects. Like plants on land, seaweeds use photosynthesis to absorb CO2 and grow biomass. WIF has started seaweed cultivation with 90 partner communities and vast areas with future seaweed potential have already been identified.

Globally, seaweeds are thought to sequester over 200 million tons of CO2 per year. If able to be verified for sale, current global seaweed stocks could fetch an estimated 8 trillion USD on the voluntary carbon market. WIF seeks cooperation to build the methodology necessary to achieve verification for this natural solution, please get in touch by clicking this link.