Our ocean ecosystem is collapsing
Seaweed and small-scale fishers are the solution
Business as usual is not an option. A rapid increase in restorative seaweed farming is needed to drive ocean and climate restoration. There are 22 million small-scale fishers that can drive this change…
Small-scale fishers provide 50% of the world’s seafood and 90% of fisheries employment. But they are marginalised by exploitative value chains that drive unsustainable fishing and deepening poverty
The ocean provides 70% of our oxygen, 17% of animal protein, and it has buffered climate change impacts. But it is on the brink of collapse
Seaweed is a more efficient seedstock for bioplastics and biofuels than land crops, and provides habitat for fish. But it is limited by underestimating small-scale fishers as a route to scale
Our ambition is to integrate the world’s largest supply chain for regenerative seaweed, benefiting the 4Cs of Communities, Commerce, Conservation and Climate.
Coast 4C is a social enterprise launched by ZSL in 2020 to drive ocean and climate restoration through inclusive value chains for regenerative seaweed and end-of-life fishing nets. Coast 4C builds on the award-winning Net-Works project co-created by ZSL and Interface which validated the inclusive value chain model in the Philippines and successfully tested replication in Cameroon and Indonesia. Take a look at one of our solutions for tackling marine plastic pollution that causes ghost fishing and how we work with responsible global markets to benefit people, planet and prosperity…
Video courtesy of Net-Works/Interface, 2013
Recognition & Research
Here is a selection of awards and articles. For a more detailed list of awards and articles please see our old Net-Works site here
WINNER of the World Economic Forum UpLink and Friends of Ocean Action ‘Blue Food Challenge’, 2021
Selected as one of 108 ‘Biodiversity Positive Practices and Actions Around the World’ for showcasing at UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15, 2021
million metres
of discarded fishing net diverted from the ocean and regenerated into high value carpet tiles, reducing ghost fishing
hectares
of the ocean protected in eight community-based marine protected areas that are 45 times the national average size
households
with gender equitable financial inclusion through 86 community banks in 32 villages
seaweed farming families
trained in ecological seaweed farming techniques and supplying Coast 4C
hectares
of no-take ‘replenishment’ zones in seven iMPAs, more than 20 times the national average size.
hectares
of suitable habitat for ecological seaweed farming zoned within seven iMPAs: enough for 1,368 family farms
There is so much more to achieve. Find out how and join us today.
