Indigenous Communities Restore Oceans With Seaweed Cultivation
From Hawaii to Alaska to British Columbia, Indigenous communities cultivate seaweed in order to restore it, fortify ancestral knowledge, support food sovereignty and mitigate climate change. While each community has their own initiative specific to their culture and environment, all follow Indigenous understandings of interconnectedness. In Hawaii, for instance, community group Limu Hui seeks to rehabilitate the Hawaiian red algae known as limu kohu, which has become scarce. To do so, Limu Hui are testing methods of transplanting limu species from tanks to the ocean. Meanwhile in Alaska, Cordova-based Native Conservancy focuses on kelp farming and testing with a total of nine test sites along a more than 160km stretch of Prince William Sound. They aim to create a reliable food source, sellable product and job opportunities for Alaska’s Indigenous community. Learn more about these critical projects—and how other Indigenous groups are working to support the ocean and their culture through seaweed—at Mongabay.
Image courtesy of Tesia Bobrycki/Native Conservancy
Via news.mongabay.com link opens in a new window
