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Driven by growing concern over large-scale kelp forest loss and lack of natural recovery, the State of California has invested more than \\$11 million in monitoring, research, restoration, and community engagement to better understand the drivers of decline, identify pathways for recovery, and initiate restoration efforts.\n\n<ImageAsset id=\"6ad6209102dec18e5e584333\" />\n\nThis transformation has been enabled by a series of interconnected policy and funding milestones. Guided by the state’s groundbreaking Kelp Action Plan, released in 2021,[1](/citation/sowk2-7-1/) targeted investments such as the collaborative Kelp Recovery Research Program and Accelerating Kelp Research Program,[2](/citation/sowk2-7-2/) launched through the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) and California Sea Grant, in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), have expanded scientific understanding, restoration capacity, and innovative experimental recovery efforts across the state to protect and restore kelp ecosystems. \n\nIn 2023, CDFW, in partnership with OPC, began developing a statewide, ecosystem-based, adaptive Kelp Restoration and Management Plan (KRMP)[3](/citation/sowk2-7-3/) for giant kelp, *Macrocystis pyrifera*, and bull kelp, *Nereocystis luetkeana*. The KRMP is California’s first comprehensive framework for kelp conservation, restoration, harvest management, and adaptive stewardship. By integrating ecosystem-based management, restoration planning, Tribal engagement, science, and permitting considerations into a single strategy, the KRMP aims to provide a framework for meaningful restoration and support the long-term management of these iconic ecosystems.\n\nThis proactive policy environment has accelerated innovation throughout the state. Tribally led monitoring, management, and restoration initiatives are playing an increasingly important role in ecosystem recovery while supporting Indigenous stewardship and sovereignty. At the same time, researchers, practitioners, agencies, and community partners are evaluating a growing suite of restoration approaches, including native purple sea urchin population control, kelp cultivation and outplanting, habitat enhancement, and emerging approaches (e.g., [Array to Recover Kelp Ecosystem Vegetation](https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/our-work/research-projects/accelerating-bull-kelp-ecosystem-recovery-recently-deforested-location#:~:text=Kelp%20growth%20is%20being%20stimulated,reproductive%20maturity%20within%20two%20months.) (ARKEVs),[4](/citation/sowk2-7-4/) drift supplementation). These efforts are supported by long-term ecological monitoring programmes, advances in kelp canopy mapping, and strong community engagement, creating a foundation for adaptive management and a learn-by-doing approach built on the best available science.\n\nWhile significant challenges remain and kelp loss continues to outpace restoration in many regions, California's leadership demonstrates how policy can help create conditions necessary for ecosystem recovery. The State's most notable achievement is not a single restoration technique, but the deliberate alignment of public support, scientific investment, funding mechanisms, and management frameworks around a shared vision for kelp forest recovery. California offers an example of how governance can move beyond isolated restoration projects and meaningfully embed ecosystem recovery within broader biodiversity, climate resilience, and ocean stewardship agendas.\n\n<ImageAsset id=\"6ad6235502dec18e5e584336\" />\n\n## 7.2 Canada: NKELPA and the launch of the first national kelp alliance\n**Hannah Solway, Margot Hessing Lewis, Marianne Fish**\n\nNKELPA, the National Kelp Ecosystem Learning and Practice Alliance, spans Canada’s Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic coasts. It is the first national working group linked to the Kelp Forest Challenge and is collaboratively led by a coordination team comprising the Hakai Institute, WWF-Canada’s Coastal Habitats Hub, and the Kelp Forest Alliance. Together, they support a steering committee of approximately 30 members and a community of practice of more than 100 people from over 50 organisations.\n\nImportantly, NKELPA brings together people from a wide range of backgrounds, including research, Indigenous communities, government, industry, and non-profit organisations. Together, they are guiding the development of a national Kelp Action Plan that is grounded in regional realities and prioritises locally relevant action.\n\nNKELPA is building a knowledge-to-action framework to support the future of Canadian kelp ecosystems. The process begins with metadata. Using a standardised template, NKELPA is cataloguing what kelp data, information, and knowledge already exist across the country, where they are held, and who holds them. This inventory will feed into a national State of Kelp Report, which will synthesise the broader picture and use a readiness assessment to help identify priority objectives and enable action.\n\nFrom there, the action-planning process will support the development of regional plans that identify opportunities to work across coasts and set practical priorities based on the available evidence, community needs, and remaining knowledge gaps.\n\nSteering committee discussions have surfaced consistent priorities: \n\n* Enhancing collaboration and coordination  \n* Mapping where kelp forests are  \n* Making decisions with incomplete knowledge  \n* Making Indigenous and community leadership central rather than consultative  \n* Researching standardised assessment methods, aquaculture techniques, and ecosystem services provided by kelp forests\n\nThe ambition is for NKELPA to become a model for similar regional and national alliances elsewhere. By developing a compatible and adaptable approach to cataloguing kelp knowledge and translating it into regional action plans, NKELPA aims to create a framework that can be transferred across jurisdictions. Working alongside the Kelp Forest Alliance and other international partners, the longer-term vision is for countries and regions to coordinate more closely in pursuit of shared kelp conservation goals.\n\n## 7.3 Norway: 5,000 km² of kelp lost and a national kelp restoration plan\n**Kjell Magnus Norderhaug, Thomas Wernberg, Karen Filbee-Dexter, Johanna Zimmerhackel, Cecilie Wathne**\n\nIn June 2024, the Norwegian Parliament adopted Parliamentary Resolution 789, requesting the Government to develop a plan to systematically restore kelp forests along the Norwegian coast. The resolution followed consideration of Norway’s integrated ocean management plans and is being progressed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries together with the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The Institute of Marine Research (IMR) was tasked with developing the scientific basis for the plan and published its first assessment in 2025.[5](/citation/sowk2-7-5/) In 2026, the plan is being developed further with the Directorate of Fisheries and the Norwegian Environment Agency.\n\nThe 2025 assessment concluded that more than 5,000 km² of kelp forest has been lost and identified climate change and marine heatwaves, eutrophication and runoff, and overfishing and associated changes in food webs as major drivers.[6](/citation/sowk2-7-6/),[7](/citation/sowk2-7-7/) It also identified scaling, financing, and governance as key barriers to national restoration.[5](/citation/sowk2-7-5/)\n\nThe next phase evaluates a business-as-usual scenario against a range of restoration and management options, including sea urchin removal and harvesting, quicklime treatment, artificial reefs, marine protection, predator deployment, and kelp transplantation and seeding. These measures are being compared according to their expected ecological effects, spatial applicability, costs, scalability, and uncertainty, alongside socioeconomic, regulatory, and institutional considerations. The plan also draws on restoration experience from Norway and internationally.[8](/citation/sowk2-7-8/) The national plan is expected to be presented in 2027.\n\nImportantly, the Parliamentary resolution did not include dedicated funding for national-scale implementation. Financing therefore remains a central challenge rather than a secured delivery mechanism.[5](#bookmark=id.ldeffyuhbknq)\n\nA major strength of the Norwegian process is the connection between political mandate, scientific assessment, socioeconomic analysis, and the agencies responsible for implementation. Its main limitation is also instructive internationally: political ambition currently exceeds both demonstrated restoration capacity at large spatial scales and available financing.\n\nSeveral transferable lessons emerge. National restoration planning should establish ecological baselines before selecting interventions, address the causes of degradation rather than only replacing lost habitat, compare active restoration with passive recovery and protection, and consider costs, regulation, and scalability from the outset. Pilot projects, long-term monitoring, and adaptive management are also essential before committing to large-scale deployment. Norway illustrates that national restoration planning is not simply about choosing technologies, but about linking ecological recovery with governance, finance, and long-term ecosystem management.\n\n## 7.4 Washington: coordinated partner engagement advances kelp conservation policy and funding\n**Jeff Whitty, Bree Turner, Cynthia Harbison, Tom Mumford**\n\nWashington’s kelp story is fundamentally one of collaboration and coordination. In parts of Puget Sound, kelp forests have declined substantially, but the response has increasingly brought together Tribes, community groups, agencies, non-profits, universities, and policymakers around a shared approach to recovery.\n\n*Washington’s kelp story is fundamentally one of collaboration and coordination.*\n\nA major step came in 2020, when more than 40 partners co-created the Puget Sound Kelp Conservation and Recovery Plan.[9](/citation/sowk2-7-9/) Rather than focusing on a single intervention, the plan established shared priorities across research, monitoring, policy, restoration, education, and outreach. This collaborative approach gained further momentum in 2022, when the Washington State Legislature directed the Department of Natural Resources to conserve or recover more than 4,000 hectares of kelp and eelgrass by 2040.[10](/citation/sowk2-7-10/) The resulting statewide framework is being developed with Tribal co-stewards and other partners, and approximately 1,200 hectares of protection zones have already been established.\n\nWashington has also begun turning these plans into stronger policy. A statewide Kelp Policy Advisory Group developed recommendations to improve mapping, management guidance, and regulatory protection. Kelp partners are working with the Department of Ecology to strengthen consideration of kelp through updates to the rules in the Shoreline Management Act.[11](/citation/sowk2-7-11/) In 2025, bull kelp (*Nereocystis luetkeana*) was designated Washington’s official state marine forest, following advocacy involving students and Tribal and non-Tribal community representatives. The designation is symbolic, but it also reflects how far kelp has moved into the state’s public and political conversation.\n\n*In 2025, bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) was designated* \n\n*Washington’s official state marine forest*\n\nProgress has been supported by investment from state, federal, and private funders in monitoring, research, advancing restoration techniques, coordination, and public engagement. In 2026, the Puget Sound Marine Vegetation Implementation Strategy[12](/citation/sowk2-7-12/) was released to support accelerated recovery of kelp and seagrass by providing strategic planning support and a framework for funding regional and local projects. Maintaining Washington’s kelp conservation and recovery momentum will depend on continued funding for ongoing programmes rather than short-term project cycles alone.\n\nWhat makes Washington distinctive is Tribal leadership, partner collaboration, community support, and how policy, funding, and research increasingly reinforce one another. Instead of relying on isolated restoration projects, Washington has developed shared targets and working groups, and implemented long-term planning that strengthens policy, regulations, and programmes needed to conserve and recover kelp forests across the region.\n\nThe broader lesson is that kelp revitalisation is not only an ecological challenge. It is also a coordination challenge. Washington shows what becomes possible when long-term targets, investment and Tribal and community leadership are built into the way kelp forests are managed.\n\n## 7.5 EU: Nature Restoration Regulation\n**Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira**\n\nThe European Union Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) establishes the first legally binding EU-wide targets for restoring degraded terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, marine, and urban ecosystems. Adopted in June 2024 after negotiation between the European Commission, Council, and European Parliament, it required all Member States to submit their draft national restoration plans by 1 September 2026\\. The Regulation supports implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly Target 2, and aligns with the EU Green Deal and 2030 Biodiversity Strategy.[13](/citation/sowk2-7-13/),[14](/citation/sowk2-7-14/)\n\n<ImageAsset id=\"6ad6267802dec18e5e584366\" />\n\nMember States must restore at least 30% of habitat areas in poor condition by 2030, 60% by 2040, and 90% by 2050\\. Equivalent targets apply where habitats must be re-established to reach their favourable reference area (FRA). The NRR also requires continued improvement in habitat condition, stronger non-deterioration safeguards, and progressive closure of knowledge gaps, including assessment of 50% of habitat areas by 2030 and all areas by 2040\\.\n\nIts practical impact will depend on the quality, ambition, and financing of national restoration plans, which remain under development. Marine implementation presents particular challenges because historical baselines are uncertain, monitoring is incomplete, and data outside Natura 2000 sites are limited. Establishing credible FRAs and defining “good condition” will therefore require substantial investment in marine observation, harmonised indicators, and more detailed monitoring than is currently available under many existing directives.[15](/citation/sowk2-7-15/),[16](/citation/sowk2-7-16/),[17](/citation/sowk2-7-17/)\n\nThe Regulation does not create a dedicated funding mechanism. Instead, implementation is expected to draw on programmes such as LIFE, Horizon Europe, regional funds and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, alongside national and private finance.\n\nFor kelp forests, the NRR provides an important opportunity to move European policy beyond protection towards active, accountable ecosystem recovery. Its planning, reporting, and transparency requirements could strengthen the recognition of kelp forests within marine governance. However, effective implementation will require coordination beyond EU waters, particularly across the Atlantic Arc and North Atlantic, where kelp ecosystems extend into the United Kingdom, Norway, and Iceland. Shared monitoring protocols, compatible definitions of ecological condition, and cross-border restoration planning will be essential for managing these transboundary ecosystems coherently.[18](/citation/sowk2-7-18/)\n\n## 7.6 Can kelp forests be included in a country’s carbon accounts?\n**Brian Takeda and Tomohiro Kuwae**\n\nThe Paris Agreement (2016) has 194 national parties and is the global framework for keeping climate warming below an average of 2°C. Within that, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the national climate commitments which are submitted by each party and form the basis for national targets and sectoral policies related to CO2 emissions.\n\nNature conservation has been included in many countries’ NDCs, either through terrestrial carbon sink habitats (e.g., forests) or later, via “blue carbon” in marine habitats such as mangroves, saltmarsh, and seagrass.[19](/citation/sowk2-7-19/) Indeed, at least 45 countries have included these habitats in their national inventories and as part of their climate mitigation strategy.[20](/citation/sowk2-7-20/) Although seaweeds are major carbon-fixing marine habitats, they were originally excluded as their carbon is largely exported and stored offsite (as detritus or dissolved organic carbon) rather than fixed in sediment beneath the plant.\n\nWhile there has been increasing discussion about including seaweeds as official blue carbon habitats, very little was official until the 63rd session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, October 2025 in Lima, Peru).[21](/citation/sowk2-7-21/) Here, parties approved an outline that creates a pathway for coastal wetland systems such as tidal flats and seaweeds in the forthcoming 2027 Carbon Dioxide Removal Methodology Report. If finalised, this methodology will make it easier for Parties to assess and include seaweed ecosystems in their NDCs.\n\nJapan is an exception and has moved in advance of an international consensus. In 2020, the Japanese government co-launched the J-Blue Credit, the world's first government-approved, voluntary blue carbon credit system, which extended eligibility to wild and farmed seaweeds alongside mangroves and seagrass. Importantly, the Japanese methodology focuses heavily on co-benefits and emphasises the ecological, social, and economic benefits that also occur with seaweed and kelp conservation. As an additional step, the scheme also allows for private investment and support for marine conservation projects.\n\nIn 2024, Japan became the first country to report carbon removal from seaweed beds in its national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory. Japan subsequently included these ecosystems within the scope of its 2035/2040 NDCs submitted in 2025. Japan is now pushing a step further, by building on its voluntary blue credit experience to launch compliance-grade blue credits. The Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures, adopted by Cabinet decision on 18 February 2025 as the government's comprehensive implementation roadmap for its NDC, explicitly designates blue carbon as a priority removal pathway, signalling the government's intent to move blue carbon credits from a purely voluntary instrument towards formal integration into national compliance policy.\n\nWith further international collaboration and standard setting, there is a clear pathway to include seaweeds, including kelp forests, in NDCs and country-level climate strategies. These strategies also have the opportunity to go beyond carbon and focus on the whole-ecosystem benefits provided by protecting and restoring these ecosystems.\n\n<ImageAsset id=\"6ad626ab02dec18e5e584369\" />"},"options":{"text":""},"openGraph":{"title":null,"description":{"plain":"Chapter at a glance\nPolicy and funding can determine whether kelp conservation remains a collection of local projects or grows into coordinated, long-term action. Around the world, governments and partners are beginning to set clearer targets, strengthen regulation, build dedicated coordination structures, and invest in restoration and monitoring. Here, we highlight examples of how policy, funding, and governance are creating the conditions needed to support kelp conservation at meaningful scales.\n"},"image":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1792417719/kelp-forest-alliance/page/7-0-policy-and-funding-advances_thumbnail__JellyFish_1620x1080_i26byw.webp","url2x":null,"thumbnails":{"card":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_480/v1792417719/kelp-forest-alliance/page/7-0-policy-and-funding-advances_thumbnail__JellyFish_1620x1080_i26byw.webp","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_960/v1792417719/kelp-forest-alliance/page/7-0-policy-and-funding-advances_thumbnail__JellyFish_1620x1080_i26byw.webp"},"bubble":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_64/v1792417719/kelp-forest-alliance/page/7-0-policy-and-funding-advances_thumbnail__JellyFish_1620x1080_i26byw.webp","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_128/v1792417719/kelp-forest-alliance/page/7-0-policy-and-funding-advances_thumbnail__JellyFish_1620x1080_i26byw.webp"}}}},"intro":{"text":"**Chapter at a glance**\n\nPolicy and funding can determine whether kelp conservation remains a collection of local projects or grows into coordinated, long-term action. Around the world, governments and partners are beginning to set clearer targets, strengthen regulation, build dedicated coordination structures, and invest in restoration and monitoring. 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Meeting","authors":[],"authorShowsEtAl":null,"edition":null,"publication":null,"date":null,"accessDate":null,"startPage":null,"volume":null,"footnoteNumber":21,"year":null}],"pages":[],"people":[],"imageAssets":[{"id":"6ad626ab02dec18e5e584369","slug":"vision-dive-adobe-stock-244229908-3872-x-2592-webp","name":"VisionDive_AdobeStock_244229908_3872x2592.webp","image":{"id":"image_kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/vision-dive-adobe-stock-244229908-3872-x-2592-webp_image__VisionDive_AdobeStock_244229908_3872x2592_sqdysy","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1792419491/kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/vision-dive-adobe-stock-244229908-3872-x-2592-webp_image__VisionDive_AdobeStock_244229908_3872x2592_sqdysy.webp","url2x":null}},{"id":"6ad6267802dec18e5e584366","slug":"bull-kelp-split-shot-grant-callegari-hakai-institute-5074-x-3383-webp","name":"Bull-kelp-split-shot_Grant-Callegari_Hakai-Institute_5074x3383.webp","image":{"id":"image_kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/bull-kelp-split-shot-grant-callegari-hakai-institute-5074-x-3383-webp_image__Bull-kelp-split-shot_Grant-Callegari_Hakai-Institute_5074x3383_aubkjm","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1792419437/kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/bull-kelp-split-shot-grant-callegari-hakai-institute-5074-x-3383-webp_image__Bull-kelp-split-shot_Grant-Callegari_Hakai-Institute_5074x3383_aubkjm.webp","url2x":null}},{"id":"6ad6235502dec18e5e584336","slug":"wildlife-harbor-seal-1620-x-1080-webp","name":"Wildlife-Harbor-Seal_1620x1080.webp","image":{"id":"image_kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/wildlife-harbor-seal-1620-x-1080-webp_image__Wildlife-Harbor-Seal_1620x1080_mxce74","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1792418638/kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/wildlife-harbor-seal-1620-x-1080-webp_image__Wildlife-Harbor-Seal_1620x1080_mxce74.webp","url2x":null}},{"id":"6ad6209102dec18e5e584333","slug":"jellyfish-1","name":"Jellyfish","image":{"id":"image_kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/jellyfish-1_image__JellyFish_1620x1080_opwmes","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1792417930/kelp-forest-alliance/image-asset/jellyfish-1_image__JellyFish_1620x1080_opwmes.webp","url2x":null}}]},"parent":{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6acdd00bbdeded6c37dcd41e","name":"State of the World's Kelp 26","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26","slug":"state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26","title":"State of the World's Kelp Forests Report 2026","subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"content":{"text":""},"children":[{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad4a34121102692df900752","name":"Forewords","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/forewords","slug":"forewords","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"\n\nJulianna Sullivan – Port Gamble S’Kallam Tribe\nyaʔyáʔnəŋ̕ u cxʷ?\n(Are you listening?)\nSome of my earliest memories are sitting cross-legged on the floor of my preschool classroom, quietly watching as the grandmothers sang us our songs. In their hands was a rattle made from bull kelp, its rhythm carrying our language, our teachings, and the voices of those who came before us. Though we were taught to listen with respect and intention, there was something about the sound of the kelp rattle and the grandmothers' voices that drew us in. Even as young children, we knew those moments held something sacred.\nYears later, kelp would carry me far beyond my own shoreline.\nKelp introduced me to Indigenous relatives from coastlines I had never walked, whose languages I do not speak, yet whose hearts recognised something familiar in my own. Although our languages, traditions, and coastlines are beautifully distinct, something remarkable happened when we gathered. In every story, every laugh, every song, and every teaching, we found reflections of our own relationships with kelp. What once felt like isolated experiences became part of a much larger story—one that has been unfolding along coastlines around the world since time immemorial.\nEach gathering felt like drawing water from a deep well. Every person arrived carrying teachings from their own homeland, entrusted to them by their ancestors and communities. As those teachings were shared with humility and received with gratitude, the well grew deeper and purer. No one left with less. Somehow, we all left carrying more.\nMi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall's teaching of Etuaptmumk, or Two-Eyed Seeing, became a guiding light for our journey. One eye recognises the strengths of our Indigenous ways of knowing, the other the strengths of Western science. It is only with both eyes open that we can better understand our kelp forests and find ways to better care for the world around us.\nAs kelp forests face unprecedented challenges, this growing circle of Indigenous kelp stewards reminds us that we are not alone. Across oceans, we are reconnecting to share knowledge, strengthen one another, and remember what the tides have always known—that the ocean connects us all.\nMy hope is that this spirit ripples outward, inspiring us to approach this work with curiosity, humility, and relationships rooted in respect, reciprocity, and care for the living world.\nw̕ yaʔyáʔnəŋ cn.\n(Yes, I am listening.)\n\n\nCraig Foster – Sea Change\nI’m at the tip of Africa in the Great African Seaforest. I watch in awe. A female pyjama shark is attempting to attach one of her eggs to a kelp holdfast by rotating her body around and around to weave the egg case thread into the kelp. Then something happened that I could never have imagined. A male pyjama shark appeared and repeatedly placed his body as protection between the female and any threat. As far as I know, this kind of protective behaviour is unknown in sharks.\nOnce the egg case was safely attached, both sharks moved away. Now the tiny shark would feed on the yolk inside the egg for at least six months before hatching, vulnerable to predation from starfish and whelks. I stared at the newly laid egg and felt a deep vulnerability in myself, because something told me that the survival of this endangered species was woven into my own survival. We feel separate, but that’s not actually the case, as biodiversity health and human health are fundamentally linked.\nOur future survival depends on our relationship with Mother Nature. Nurturing that relationship is the most important single thing we can do to support life and the coming lives of the next generation.\nKelp forests are places on Earth Mother’s body that have great wealth and density of species. They represent reservoirs of hope. They are amongst the most fragile and critical places to look after. Each act of caring and protection is an act of self-care. All our lives, animal and human, rest in her arms.\n"}},"intro":{"text":""},"orderNumber":1,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad4bfee21102692df90075d","name":"1.0 Introduction – Welcome to Kelp Forests","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/1-0-introduction-welcome-to-kelp-forests","slug":"1-0-introduction-welcome-to-kelp-forests","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Key takeaways\n1. Kelp forests cover one-third of our world’s coastlines.\n2. Areas within 50 km of a kelp forest are home to 950 million people and account for 18% of global GDP.\n3. 40–60% of these systems have declined in the last 50 years.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"**Key takeaways**\n\n1\\. Kelp forests cover one-third of our world’s coastlines.\n\n2\\. Areas within 50 km of a kelp forest are home to 950 million people and account for 18% of global GDP.\n\n3\\. 40–60% of these systems have declined in the last 50 years."},"orderNumber":2,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad6035902dec18e5e58419b","name":"2.0 Benefits of Kelp Forests","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/2-0-benefits-of-kelp-forests","slug":"2-0-benefits-of-kelp-forests","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Key takeaways\n\nKelp forests provide a wide range of economic and cultural services to over 950 million people around the world.\n\nThe potential economic value of ecosystem services in kelp forests is over US$500 billion per year.\n\nKelp forest fisheries (lobster, abalone, fish) generate tens of millions to billions for national economies each year.\n\nNearly 600,000 tonnes of wild kelp are harvested each year.\n\nKelp forests are estimated to sequester approximately 32 million tonnes of CO2 annually.\n\n\n"}},"intro":{"text":"**Key takeaways**\n\n1. Kelp forests provide a wide range of economic and cultural services to over **950 million people around the world.**\n\n2. The potential economic value of ecosystem services in kelp forests is **over US$500 billion per year.**\n\n3. Kelp forest fisheries (lobster, abalone, fish) **generate tens of millions to billions for national economies each year.**\n\n4. Nearly **600,000 tonnes of wild kelp** are harvested each year.\n\n5. Kelp forests are estimated to sequester approximately **32 million tonnes of CO2 annually.**"},"orderNumber":3,"banner":{"name":"Kelp chapter 2","slug":"kelp-chapter-2","alternateText":null,"thumbnail":null}},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad607a102dec18e5e584222","name":"3.0 Conservation Actions and Priorities","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/3-0-conservation-actions-and-priorities","slug":"3-0-conservation-actions-and-priorities","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Key takeaways\n1) As the threats facing kelp forests are diverse, so are the methods for conserving, protecting, and managing these ecosystems. There is no universal approach, and conservation must be adapted to the local context.2) Monitoring is the most common type of kelp conservation used across regions.3) Communities are increasingly involved in kelp conservation projects.4) Indigenous stewardship, based on deep connections to local kelp forests, provides a complementary model for kelp conservation.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"## Key takeaways\n\n1) As the **threats facing kelp forests are diverse**, so are the methods for conserving, protecting, and managing these ecosystems. There is no universal approach, and conservation must be adapted to the local context.   \n2) Monitoring is the most common type of kelp conservation used across regions.  \n3) Communities are increasingly involved in kelp conservation projects.  \n4) Indigenous stewardship, based on deep connections to local kelp forests, provides a complementary model for kelp conservation."},"orderNumber":4,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad6116f02dec18e5e584292","name":"4.0 Protected Areas","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/4-0-protected-areas","slug":"4-0-protected-areas","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Key Takeaways\n\nAround 23% of the global kelp biome overlaps with a protected area. This is an increase from 16% in 2024.  \nThirteen regions have more than 30% of their kelp biome within protected areas, while 23 regions remain below this level.  \nProtected-area coverage is highest in regions including the Sub-Antarctic Islands, Atlantic France, Japan, South Australia, Atlantic Spain and Portugal, the Mediterranean, California, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Argentina, Western Australia, Washington, and Chile.  \nStrong protection of kelp forest ecosystems is very rare. Only 1.2% of the global kelp biome can currently be confidently identified as highly protected, with an additional 1.86% identified as moderately protected.  \nSeveral regions remain particularly under-protected, including Aotearoa New Zealand, the Russian and Canadian Arctic, eastern Canada, China, and Tasmania.\n\n"}},"intro":{"text":"Key Takeaways\n\n1. Around **23% of the global kelp biome** overlaps with a **protected area. This is an increase from 16%** in 2024.  \n2. **Thirteen regions have more than 30% of their kelp biome within protected areas,** while 23 regions remain below this level.  \n3. Protected-area coverage is highest in regions including the Sub-Antarctic Islands, Atlantic France, Japan, South Australia, Atlantic Spain and Portugal, the Mediterranean, California, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Argentina, Western Australia, Washington, and Chile.  \n4. Strong protection of kelp forest ecosystems is very rare. **Only 1.2% of the global kelp biome** can currently be confidently **identified as highly protected**, with an additional 1.86% identified as moderately protected.  \n5. Several regions remain particularly under-protected, including Aotearoa New Zealand, the Russian and Canadian Arctic, eastern Canada, China, and Tasmania."},"orderNumber":5,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad618a702dec18e5e5842b7","name":"5.0 Restoration","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/5-0-restoration","slug":"5-0-restoration","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Chapter at a glance\nRestoration is expanding around the world, but progress remains uneven. A small number of larger programmes are showing that kelp forests can be restored at meaningful scales, while many projects remain small, experimental, or difficult to sustain and expand. Here, we highlight the main approaches being used and examine examples where restoration has succeeded at scale, focusing on the methods, partnerships, funding, and long-term management that have helped make recovery possible.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"**Chapter at a glance**\n\nRestoration is expanding around the world, but progress remains uneven. A small number of larger programmes are showing that kelp forests can be restored at meaningful scales, while many projects remain small, experimental, or difficult to sustain and expand. Here, we highlight the main approaches being used and examine examples where restoration has succeeded at scale, focusing on the methods, partnerships, funding, and long-term management that have helped make recovery possible."},"orderNumber":6,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad61c2202dec18e5e5842d1","name":"6.0 New Technologies","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/6-0-new-technologies","slug":"6-0-new-technologies","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Chapter at a glance\nTechnology has an important role to play in making kelp forest conservation more effective and more efficient. While the field has received little dedicated research and development compared to terrestrial and coral systems, we are seeing the emergence of innovative approaches and creative applications of technologies developed for other settings to improve kelp forest health. Here we highlight some emerging and established technologies that will help drive the future of kelp forest conservation.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"**Chapter at a glance**\n\nTechnology has an important role to play in making kelp forest conservation more effective and more efficient. While the field has received little dedicated research and development compared to terrestrial and coral systems, we are seeing the emergence of innovative approaches and creative applications of technologies developed for other settings to improve kelp forest health. Here we highlight some emerging and established technologies that will help drive the future of kelp forest conservation."},"orderNumber":7,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad6202f02dec18e5e584320","name":"7.0 Policy and Funding Advances","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/7-0-policy-and-funding-advances","slug":"7-0-policy-and-funding-advances","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Chapter at a glance\nPolicy and funding can determine whether kelp conservation remains a collection of local projects or grows into coordinated, long-term action. Around the world, governments and partners are beginning to set clearer targets, strengthen regulation, build dedicated coordination structures, and invest in restoration and monitoring. Here, we highlight examples of how policy, funding, and governance are creating the conditions needed to support kelp conservation at meaningful scales.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"**Chapter at a glance**\n\nPolicy and funding can determine whether kelp conservation remains a collection of local projects or grows into coordinated, long-term action. Around the world, governments and partners are beginning to set clearer targets, strengthen regulation, build dedicated coordination structures, and invest in restoration and monitoring. Here, we highlight examples of how policy, funding, and governance are creating the conditions needed to support kelp conservation at meaningful scales."},"orderNumber":8,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad629a902dec18e5e5843ac","name":"8.0 Communities and Communications","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/8-0-communities-and-communications","slug":"8-0-communities-and-communications","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"Chapter at a glance\nProtecting and restoring kelp forests is as much about connecting people to these systems as it is about science and policy. People have expressed their connection to and the importance of kelp forests in many forms, from paint to poetry to podcasts. Here, we highlight some of our favourite examples of artistic expression and communication about kelp forests.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"**Chapter at a glance**\n\nProtecting and restoring kelp forests is as much about connecting people to these systems as it is about science and policy. People have expressed their connection to and the importance of kelp forests in many forms, from paint to poetry to podcasts. Here, we highlight some of our favourite examples of artistic expression and communication about kelp forests."},"orderNumber":9,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad62b9402dec18e5e5843d9","name":"9.0 Methods","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/9-0-methods","slug":"9-0-methods","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"9.1 Expert opinion survey\nThis assessment draws on a structured global survey of kelp forest experts, practitioners, and managers. Participants provided information only for regions where they had substantial knowledge or experience.\nThe survey assessed four aspects of kelp forest conservation: threats and stressors, current conservation action, capacity to respond, and ecosystem benefits. Sixteen indicators were scored using consistent criteria, allowing broad comparisons among regions.\nResponses were combined to produce regional summaries and to identify places where conservation action and capacity may not be keeping pace with the pressures facing kelp forests.\nThe results represent expert-informed assessments rather than direct measurements of ecological condition or management effectiveness. The number of respondents and the availability of evidence varied among regions, so findings from areas with limited responses should be interpreted cautiously and alongside other available information.\n9.2 Kelp protection analysis\nWe estimated how much of the global kelp biome overlaps with marine protected areas and how strong that protection is likely to be.\nThe kelp biome was represented using a global model of potential kelp distribution1, restricted to waters shallower than 60 metres. This captures the broad environmental range in which kelp forests may occur, but it is not a direct map of observed kelp. It may overestimate habitat because it does not account for the availability of rocky reef, while also underestimating kelp distribution in places that were inaccurately modelled.\nWe overlaid this biome layer with two complementary protected-area datasets. The World Database on Protected Areas was used to estimate the overall area of kelp habitat located within designated protected areas. ProtectedSeas’ Level of Fishing Protection dataset was used to assess the strength of fishing restrictions within those areas, with a focus on moderately and highly protected sites.\nWhere protected areas overlapped, each location was assigned to the highest applicable protection category to avoid double-counting. These results indicate the spatial extent and likely regulatory strength of protection, but they do not directly measure enforcement, management effectiveness, or ecological outcomes.\n\nFigure 9.1 Overview of the kelp protection analysis. Habitat and protected-area layers are overlaid to estimate spatial overlap. See Section 9.2 for the habitat layer and protection datasets used in this report."}},"intro":{"text":""},"orderNumber":10,"banner":null},{"__typename":"Platform_Page","id":"6ad62c4c02dec18e5e5843e8","name":"10.0 Closing","path":"/state-of-the-worlds-kelp-26/10-0-closing","slug":"10-0-closing","title":null,"subtitle":null,"pretitle":null,"openGraph":{"description":{"plain":"The state of the world’s kelp forests remains mixed. Kelp forests continue to be lost, oceans are warming, and overabundant grazers remain a major challenge.\n"}},"intro":{"text":"The state of the world’s kelp forests remains mixed. 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