How it all began…

Interview by Aimee Aimee Clark, Masters student at the Centre of Science Communication, University of Otago

If you were to picture a forest what do you imagine? Maybe a great expanse of native bush or perhaps a dense jungle. Regardless of what sort of forest you see, it is likely terrestrial.

Although it is widely known that our terrestrial forest’s help produce most of the oxygen we breathe, this information is not entirely accurate. There is an unsung hero floating in the deep, one that supports primary production in our marine ecosystems, helps in the fight against climate change and produces oxygen. It’s the humble seaweed. In fact, most of the world’s oxygen (between 70% and 90%) comes from seaweeds and other microscopic algae.

Wellington’s harbour was once home to an abundance of seaweed forests but due to a number of environmental stressors including the impacts of climate change, the seaweed forest cover in the area is in decline.

Mountains to Sea Wellington Trust is an organisation that delivers freshwater and marine education and restoration programmes for schools and communities across the Greater Wellington Region.

Inspired by the idea to restore these seaweed forests, Mountains to Sea launched the Love Rimurimu programme in 2020. Their vision focusses on educating communities to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the importance of seaweed and how it is vital to the function of our marine environment. In the long term, the goal is that community collaboration will help pilot seaweed forest restoration in Wellington and improve the quality of the marine ecosystem.

In a recent interview Executive Director Zoe Studd spoke about how the Trust began and what their plans are for the future….

Find the full interview here.

Aquaculture lead Siddharth with summer interns Laura and Yun Yi, research assistant Abigail and senior researcher Roberta from NIWA (left to right).