The new Race to Restore initiative is part of the international Ocean Foresting campaign led by One Ocean Foundation to promote the activation of multiple reforestation projects worldwide, alongside research and educational activities to raise awareness on the importance of seagrass ecosystems.
The initiative will mark the undertaking of a 300 square-metre seagrass replanting mission near Halifax, Nova Scotia – the site of the ROCKWOOL Canada Sail Grand Prix, which will take place on 1-2 June 2024. As part of the initiative, each SailGP team can win “impact points” based on their performance in the remaining events of Season 4: each point corresponds to one square metre of replanted seagrass.
In collaboration with the Community Eelgrass Restoration Initiative (CERI) and Dalhousie University, the initiative will see thousands of eelgrass plants repopulate the local “blue carbon ecosystem”, playing an important role as a natural carbon sink to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The ocean is our biggest ally in the fight against climate change, and studies have shown that seagrass can absorb up to 2.7kg of carbon dioxide per m2 in the very first sediment layer per year, meaning that the SailGP Race to Restore project alone could potentially remove more than 800kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.
“One Ocean Foundation is pleased to welcome ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team and the other competing teams in SailGP to participate in our ambitious Ocean Foresting campaign”, says Giulio Magni, Operations Director at One Ocean Foundation.
“The Ocean Foresting initiative aims to promote the activation of multiple reforestation projects worldwide, alongside research and educational activities to raise awareness on the importance of these ecosystems, through an international network of high-level collaborations with universities, NGOs, institutions and authorities committed to the protection of marine forests”
One Ocean Foundation, in collaboration with the Community Eelgrass Restoration Initiative (CERI) and Dalhousie University, has identified Eelgrass as a suitable plant for reforestation interventions in Port Medway, Nova Scotia.
“The ocean is essential for all our lives – especially sailors have a deep understanding of this. The Race to Restore project presents a great opportunity for collaboration between scientists and renowned international athletes to raise awareness of a powerful, yet also fragile marine ecosystem such as eelgrass,” says Dr Kristina Boerder, Future of Marine Ecosystem lab at Dalhousie University & CERI.
Eelgrass are a species of seagrass which grows in the ocean in dense, swaying meadows, is found in bays estuaries and along beaches across North America – and is a native plant to Nova Scotia. One of the few flowering plants that can live underwater, including a rootsystem, leaves, flowers and seeds, it provides numerous ecosystem benefits to humankind. Eelgrass forms underwater meadows which capture carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, protects the coast from erosion and create biodiversity hotspots providing shelter, food and nursery grounds for many marine species.
Mirella Vitale, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at ROCKWOOL, adds: “Since 2022, we’ve been working closely with One Ocean Foundation to further awareness around the important role of our ocean in the fight against climate change, and this new initiative marks our title partnerships of the ROCKWOOL Canada Sail Grand Prix by giving all SailGP teams a chance to create impact whilst doing what they do best – racing the F50, fast.”
The ROCKWOOL Canada Sail Grand Prix in June will see the world’s most exciting racing on water visit Canada for the first time. To mark the event in Halifax, ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team, Canada SailGP Team and One Ocean Foundation will collaborate to host a series of youth-focused purpose activity – including workshops and ocean science sessions.
“As Impact League champions, we know we have a responsibility to stand up and lead when it comes to ocean health – and we’re delighted to partner with ROCKWOOL, One Ocean Foundation and CERI to undertake this exciting project which I know will inspire the world-class athletes in SailGP,” says ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team driver Nicolai Sehested.
Starting in Christchurch, New Zealand on 23-24 March, the Race to Restore climate action initiative incentivises the SailGP fleet by awarding ‘impact points’ based on their results and top speed in the remaining events of Season 4. With 55 total fleet points available in each SailGP event, teams can win 1 square metre of impact for every point they accumulate between now and the SailGP grand final in San Francisco on 13-14 July.
There will also be an extra five bonus points per event for the team which records the fastest speed of each Sail Grand Prix – a nod to ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team and One Ocean Foundation’s successful More Speed, Less Plastic initiative from Season 3, which saw over 10 tonnes of ocean-bound plastic diverted from coastal areas around the global SailGP circuit.
The scheme means that there are a total of 300 points up for grabs for the fleet, with the best performing SailGP team between now and the end of the season able to grab up to 75 of those – a potential impact of 75 square metres of seagrass re-planted in Nova Scotia.
