A pioneering kelp farming project off the coast of Luderitz, Namibia, promises to bring new, greener opportunities for the town.The kelp is also harvested to make cosmetics, biodegradable food packaging and biostimulants to boost crop yields.Luderitz's riches used to be buried deep underground, but a pioneering kelp farming project off its craggy coast promises to bring new, greener opportunities to the former diamond mining town in southern Namibia.
But the Luderitz project brings other benefits, too, said Daniel Hooft, 48, a former offshore engineering specialist at oil major Shell who jointly founded Kelp Blue in early 2020 as COVID-19 spread around the world. So far, Kelp Blue has grown two forests off the rugged coast of Luderitz. Since December, its team of marine biologists and divers has also set up an experimental kelp forest in Shearwater Bay.
She had tried to set up her own seaweed startup for years, but bureaucratic hurdles meant she never managed to acquire the permits."Initially we thought only 25 people would be hired. Now, we have around 42 employees in Luderitz. And we are expanding," said Jona, one of numerous local marine biologists to find jobs in the town, also the site of a company laboratory.Laetitia Heita, 27, supervises the biosystems laboratory and is responsible for a team of four biology interns.
Some of Kelp Blue's Namibian employees may help the company to establish more kelp forests in New Zealand and Alaska, the next locations it hopes to set up in.Jona hopes her work in the processing department could help Namibia's drought-stressed farmers through the production of biostimulants to boost crop yields amid more frequently occurring droughts due to climate change.
In a recent research paper, the UN Environment Programme calls kelp an"important nature-based solution ... to tackle climate change" because of its ability to store carbon.Blue carbon is the carbon captured and sequestered by marine ecosystems - and the credits generated by projects to protect, restore and expand these environments are in high demand.
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