World’s at-risk kelp forests provide billions of dollars in benefits, study shows

In some areas, including northern Tasmania, Western Australia and northern California, losses of up to 95% of kelp forests have been recorded. Photograph: Douglas Klug/Getty Images

Almost a third of the globe’s coastal environments rely on kelp to reduce local pollution and sustain fisheries that provide billions of dollars in benefits, according to a new study.

But the climate crisis, overfishing, invasions of voracious sea urchins and pollution are putting at risk the world’s kelp forests, threatening the economic benefits they provide and the huge array of species they support.