© SeaForester
Portugal and Norway-based marine restoration firm SeaForester restores degraded coastal ecosystems by replanting native kelp forests – the ocean’s equivalent of tropical rainforests – which provide essential habitat for marine life, enhance fisheries by providing breeding grounds for fish and absorb excess nutrients alongside carbon.
The investment underscores the growing recognition of the crucial role kelp forests play in marine ecosystems, supporting the expansion of SeaForester’s restoration efforts and the deployment of key enabling technologies. These include the ROOTS (Restoration Oriented Ocean Technology System) kelp nursery platform and KelpOS – a digital monitoring and analytics system integrating satellite, ROV and eDNA data to track ecosystem recovery in real time.
“SeaForester is proving that we can reforest the ocean with the same ambition that we’ve applied to land. Their model delivers measurable gains in biodiversity, carbon storage and sustainable aquaculture – all while supporting coastal communities and industries that depend on healthy seas,” said Paul Dobbins, senior director of impact investing at WWF, in a press release.
The funding arrives as demand for kelp forest restoration is surging, driven by EU regulation and shift in corporate restoration commitments towards the ocean.
“This investment is a testament to SeaForester’s vision and strategy. It allows us to accelerate our work in the sea, improve our techniques and expand partnerships with industries that depend on a healthy ocean. Together, we will bring back the ‘forgotten forest’ and create more life on the ‘blue front yards’ around the world,” said Pål Bakken, founder and chief executive of SeaForester.
Scaling up restoration and strengthening research ties
Building on successful projects in Portugal, where the company holds a seaweed nursery in Peniche and Europe’s largest restoration permit, SeaForester is also accelerating restoration activities in Norway. This involves piloting large-scale restoration across urchin barrens in the north and lost seaweed forests in the south.
The company has also begun testing new and techniques designed to reduce the cost of restoring the oceans lost forests. It will also shortly announce a number of major strategic collaborations with global players in genetic R&D and monitoring that will cement the company’s leading edge in marine restoration.
"The planet has been losing its kelp forests at a truly alarming pace, which means we are losing the habitat critical for healthy fisheries and one of the planet’s largest carbon sinks. We’ve got to reverse this trend and Seaforester’s technology is one of the best examples we’ve seen of how innovation and science can work together to restore nature at scale,” said Mark Schrope, director of SMTP.
