Forgotten forests

Kinanomics and Greenwave Aotearoa were the proud major sponsors of the inaugural Kelp Forest Photo Awards.

Aaron Eger from Kelp Forest Alliance shared his thoughts with us on the purpose behind this event, which asks us how we create and maintain personal connections to a rapidly changing ocean?

The "Hidden Forests Around Us" theme invited photographers to capture how kelp forests are connected to our daily lives and how we as a society can build a new relationship with our ocean to save them.

How did it go Aaron?

It went amazingly well for the first one. We had a lot of entries, with 350 photos from 17 countries. There’s a dedicated group of people that photograph these forests, because in mainstream underwater photography, 80 percent of what you see will be from somewhere tropical or of sharks and whales.

What’s the thinking behind the kelp awards?

Getting people aware of kelp and the diversity have around the world. People have more awareness of coral and the issues facing coral, for example, for every time kelp is mentioned in international policy, coral was mentioned 47 times, yet kelp is so important. This gap persists despite the fact that kelp forests cover far more area than coral reefs, over 1/3 of our world’s coastlines has a kelp forest

Tell us about the goals of the Kelp Forest Challenge...

Kelp forests are mostly forgotten, and most think of seaweed as food or even biofuel. Getting an emotive connection to it is going to help in protective efforts. The film My Octopus Teacher showed how powerful this can be. We wanted the and we wanted the first ever Kelp Forest Photo Awards to share these “forgotten forests” with everyone.

What is the Kelp Forest Challenge?

The Kelp Forest Challenge is a global movement to raise our connection to the ocean and ultimatelyprotect and restore 4 million hectares of kelp forests by 2040. While many countries are just getting started with kelp forest restoration, we have already received 30 pledges from eight countries, including 54,000 ha for restoration.

What can we do at a local level to help our kelp?

There are restoration groups at a local level and if there’s one near you, they’ll undoubtedly need your help. The Kelp Forest Alliance offers a platform for seeing a map of active kelp restoration groups, and if you’re part of one and not listed here, let them know.

People can also reduce their carbon footprint, vote in the right direction, invest in the right direction, and offer your unique skills. That might be to tell a story by using your art, or legal help for space permitting. But get in the water and experience it and talk about it.