<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-14/australian-kelp-forests-decline-climate-change-oceans/104588974>
'Thousands of kilometres of underwater forests experts describe as a
"biological engine" are under threat of disappearing unnoticed, with
potentially devastating implications for hundreds of marine species.
University of New South Wales marine ecologist Adriana Verges said kelp forests
that surrounded 70 per cent of Australia's coastline were progressively being
lost due to warming waters, pollution and overfishing.
Concerns have also been raised that conservationists lacked funding for
research and action to reverse the trend.
"Imagine if you lost an entire forest next to one of Australia's biggest
cities," Professor Verges said.
"There would be public outcry, there would be marches, there would be protests,
but the same thing can happen underwater and it can take decades before
somebody even notices."
The condition of global kelp forests has been outlined in the
State of the
World's Kelp report, launched at the COP16 Convention on Biological Diversity
in Colombia held at the end of October.
The report found the world was only 2 per cent of the way to meeting a
conservation goal of restoring 40 per cent of the ocean's kelp forests by 2040.
Conservation efforts globally have included removing damaging species from kelp
forests, transplanting kelp to promote growth and removing pollution from the
ocean.
Professor Verges said damage to kelp forests could be hard to visualise, as it
happened "out of sight, out of mind".
"There's a lack of knowledge and understanding, even though Australians are
super connected to the ocean, it's kind of a surface connection," she said.
"We actually know remarkably little about what's under the waves and in
particular in colder water ecosystems."
Professor Verges said warming waters due to climate change, pollution and
overfishing were the main threats globally to kelp forests.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
