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O-06

Protect and regenerate key ocean ecosystems

Coral reefs, seagrass meadows and kelp forests protected and growing back worldwide.

15 organizations tracked  ·  1 vetted

The goal in brief

GoalCoral reefs, seagrass meadows and kelp forests protected and growing back worldwide.

of reef area hit by bleaching heat, 2023–251
84%
of reef-building coral species threatened5
44%
surveyed seagrass area since 18802
−19%
seagrass seeds our members have planted
394,042Live

Why it matters

From 2023 to 2025, bleaching-level heat hit about 84% of the world’s coral reef area,1 while seagrass meadows and kelp forests have shrunk in many regions.23 These habitats shelter young fish, soften waves before they reach the shore and store carbon, so losing them hurts wildlife and the people who live alongside them.

How we’ll know it’s done

Finish line
Coral, seagrass and kelp cover stable or growing, with at least 30% of degraded areas under restoration by 2030, the UN biodiversity framework’s target.4
What counts
Living cover that lasts: corals, seagrass and kelp that survive and spread, not just get planted.
How it’s checked
Reef surveys by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, satellite heat alerts, and seagrass and kelp mapping.
Our part
Our campaign reports the seagrass seeds it plants each month.

What follows

  • Nursery grounds that help fish stocks rebuild.O-03Replenish depleted fish populations
  • Natural barriers that soften storm waves for coastal towns.E-09Regenerate coastal ecosystems to be resilient against natural disasters
  • Carbon locked away in seagrass beds and kelp forests.E-08Establish global climate equilibrium
  • Homes for threatened species like corals, turtles and dugongs.W-01Protect endangered and critical species

Fund it today Vetted campaigns on this goal, taking gifts now.

How it can be solved

The approaches to this goal, and how many of the organizations taking each one we’ve vetted.

  • Restoration robotics

    Robots that plant seagrass, kelp and coral at a scale divers can’t.

    2 organizations · 1 vetted

  • Coral gardening

    Growing corals in nurseries and replanting them on damaged reefs.

    10 organizations

  • Seagrass and kelp

    Restoring the underwater meadows and forests that shelter fish and store carbon.

    2 organizations

  • Regenerative ocean farming

    Growing seaweed and shellfish in ways that clean the water.

    1 organization

Who’s working on it

We only call a solution proven, measurable and scalable once our vetting team has vetted it. Everything else here, the team is tracking.

Vetted1 organizationReviewed by our vetting team, and passed all three tests.

  • Proven

    It has worked, with results to show.

  • Measurable

    Its impact can be counted.

  • Scalable

    It can grow toward the size of the goal.

Not vetted14 organizationsTracked by our vetting team. Not vetted yet, so we make no claims about them.

Listing an organization isn’t an endorsement. Not vetted means just that: our vetting team is tracking it, and we make no claims about it yet. Last reviewed October 2026.

Know a solution we’re missing?

Submit a solution that tackles a goal on Humanity’s Checklist.

  1. Tell us about it in a short form.
  2. Our Solutionary Team reviews every submission.
  3. If it looks like a fit, we’ll start vetting the project.
Submit a project (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA Coral Reef Watch, “Current Global Bleaching: Status Update” (updated June 2026) (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2. Dunic et al., “Long-term declines and recovery of meadow area across the world’s seagrass bioregions,” Global Change Biology (2021) (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3. Eger et al., “The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests,” Nature Communications (2023) (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4. Convention on Biological Diversity, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 2 (2022) (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5. IUCN, “Nearly half of Reef-Building Coral species face elevated relative risk of extinction,” press release (October 2026) (opens in a new tab)