tentreeⓇ, the brand best known for planting ten trees for every item purchased, is expanding their planting efforts offshore. The brand, which has currently planted over 93 million trees, will add kelp planting and coral regeneration efforts to their portfolio, supporting ecological biodiversity, livelihoods for local communities and effective carbon sequestration.
For years, tentree has led the way in exploring innovative solutions to forestation. Their expansion into seaforestation taps a historically underutilized opportunity for carbon sequestration and biodiversity restoration – coastal ecosystems like kelp can sequester up to 20x more carbon per acre than land forests. These efforts are crucial as kelp forests suffer global decline.
“Over the last ten years at tentree, we’ve planted trees in almost every type of habitat, and learned that diversifying our planting efforts is key to creating the greatest possible impact on our planet,” Derrick Emsley, Co-Founder and CEO of tentree, said. “That’s why we’re expanding our tree-planting efforts to the ocean. We’re excited to be partnering with Ocean Wise to restore kelp forests – which are foundational to temperate marine ecosystems – with an innovative approach to create long-lasting impact for future generations.”
tentree’s offshore forestation efforts will include three avenues for planting:
- Kelp Planting (New): tentree is partnering with Ocean Wise to plant bull, sugar and giant kelp off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. tentree’s support makes it possible for Ocean Wise to research best practices for seaforestation, a critical step in its goal to restore, cultivate and protect at least 5,000 ha of kelp globally.
- Coral Restoration (New): tentree is partnering with Plant a Million Corals to support coral reef restoration and protection. They’ll be supporting important habitats for fish species throughout Florida and the greater Caribbean ecosystem.
- Mangroves: tentree will continue to plant mangrove trees across Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar and Brazil. Nearly 50% of the world’s mangrove forests have disappeared over the last 50 years, and these ecosystems are crucial carbon sinks and nursery grounds for key species.
“Kelp forests are essential for the health of our ocean and the communities who depend on it. In addition to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, kelp provides healthy ocean ecosystems that restore biodiversity and support healthy fish populations,” says Lasse Gustavsson, CEO of Ocean Wise.
“Through seaforestation, Ocean Wise is taking action to restore and protect kelp forests around the world. The support of tentree will allow us to do this at a scale that has global impact.”
In addition to their new underwater planting initiatives, tentree is launching two new fabrics, SeaFleece and SeaBlend, which feature recycled polyester made from plastic bottles that were picked up by hand along coastlines. Current studies show that there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 20503, so every step to keep plastic in use and out of our water systems is crucial.