Embrace kelp forests in the coming decade
Dr. Colette Feehan was the primary author of this letter published in Science Magazine
Posted in: Biology, CSAM Research, Marine Biology
The United Nations General Assembly recognizes that securing human lives and livelihoods will require putting an end to global habitat degradation and restoring hundreds of millions of hectares of lost habitats. In response, the organization has declared 2021 to 2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Perhaps the greatest challenge for the upcoming decade is upscaling restoration efforts to match the extent of habitat loss. Coral reefs and tropical forests have been highlighted as flagships of conservation need and as priority ecosystems in the UN Decade. In contrast, kelp forests are conspicuously missing from the UN recommendations.