The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is thrilled to announce a new partnership with environmental consultancy Beyondly (formerly Comply Direct) to further ocean carbon research in the UK.
Beyondly’s generous donation of £25,000 to NOC’s Blue Carbon Fund will support the carbon coring and analysis of a key coastal site in Porthdinllean Bay, on the northern Welsh coast. The site is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) which is known for the presence of both seagrass and macroalgae.
Seagrass meadows are the powerhouses of coastal seas, providing a nature-based solution to climate change. They have been neglected for decades, which has led to their large-scale degradation and loss. In fact, they are some of the most threatened and degraded habitats on Earth and it is estimated that we have lost as much as 90% of UK seagrass beds over the last century.
However, this gives us the opportunity to restore them as part of our effort to combat climate change and preserve biodiversity.
NOC scientists are leading vital work to examine seagrass beds across the UK to determine the rate at which they capture and store carbon, as well as their contribution to supporting fisheries and coastal protection. The more we understand this, the more we can maximise these positive impacts.
Celebrating the new partnership, Holly Evans, Philanthropy Manager at NOC, said “We are delighted to be working with Beyondly. NOC is dedicated to understanding and protecting the ocean and we work with companies who are leading the way in sustainability. We rely on funding to address the challenges facing our planet and we are very grateful to Comply Direct for supporting our vital Blue Carbon work.”
Emily Baker Marketing Coordinator from Beyondly said: “We are delighted to partner with the National Oceanography Centre, a charity strongly aligned with our own business vision of creating a better, fairer, sustainable world for all. We chose to support the Blue Carbon project following the results of our 2022 materiality assessment, which identified Climate Change as the most important issue to our stakeholders. As land-based causes and solutions are currently prioritised and better understood, we were driven and excited by the opportunity to support a project exploring our ocean habitats.
Through supporting this project, we hope to educate and inspire both public and government to protect these important environments, ensuring the ocean is increasingly included in conversations about climate change solutions and reaching net zero.“
Thanks to the support of Ocean Alliance partners like Beyondly, we are growing our understanding of blue carbon stored around the UK and enabling large scale restoration of the UK’s seagrass beds.
As two organisations passionate about our ocean and our climate, NOC and Beyondly are delighted to have formed a philanthropic partnership. Individuals, foundations and corporations all have an important role to play in understanding our changing ocean, so as a collective we can play our part in helping to restore it.
If you or your organisation would like to support our Blue Carbon Fund please contact holly.evans@noc.ac.uk.