Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) activates young people, develops and implements innovative solutions, and mobilizes an ocean workforce to restore the health of the ocean in our lifetime.
Since founded by Daniela Fernandez in 2014, SOA has built the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders and supported innovative startups, nonprofits, and grassroots campaigns dedicated to solving the greatest threats facing our planet.
Two years ago at the World Economic Forum, we shared our vision with the world, and Salesforce Chair and Co-CEO Marc Benioff challenged us to accelerate 100 solutions by 2021.
Today, SOA is proud to announce that as of 2021, we have more than doubled our initial goal: we have accelerated 222 startups, nonprofits, and grassroots initiatives all over the world, each dedicated to restoring and sustaining the health of our ocean.
The Ocean Solutions Accelerator helps entrepreneurs launch for-profit ocean solutions for a sustainable blue economy by providing funding, mentorship, and other critical resources to scale their ventures and amplify their impact.
The Ocean Leadership Program (OLP) holistically supports over 6,000 global participants with the resources and networks they need to build ocean-healing solutions and to reach their full potential as ocean leaders. The OLP awards Microgrants of up to $15,000 USD to outstanding youth leaders to execute and scale their projects, and provides 72 youth-led Hubs with leadership and programmatic support.
Together, these 222 solutions for ocean restoration have touched tens of thousands of lives, restored critical marine ecosystems worldwide, invented sustainable alternatives to plastics, pioneered cutting-edge technology to illuminate the mysteries of our deepest seas and much, much more.
Each startup, nonprofit, and grassroots initiative has focused its efforts across five key areas of ocean health impact.
Learn more, and explore all 222 solutions below.
IMPACT:
15,540 metric tons of CO2 reduced, avoided, or sequestered
The fight to address climate change cannot be separated from the drive to support solutions that address carbon removal and blue carbon ecosystem development. In 2020, 31.5 gigatons of carbon (CO2) were emitted globally, with 83% of the carbon cycle circulating through the ocean. Certain marine and coastal ecosystems—like tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrass meadows—play a critical role in this cycle by sequestering and storing what’s then known as “blue carbon.”
These ecosystems are critical to climate change mitigation. Mangroves and salt marshes, for example, remove carbon from the atmosphere at a rate 10 times greater and store five times more carbon per acre than tropical forests.
IMPACT:
1,755 metric tons of solid waste removed, upcycled, or avoided
Each year, only 9% of plastic produced ends up recycled—which results in 10 million tons of plastic dumped into our oceans every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. These pollutants are responsible for choking marine life, destroying both marine and coastal ecosystems, and polluting our own food sources.
Today, the average person ingests over 70,000 microplastics each year (that’s 100 pieces over the course of a single meal). The solutions in this category work to reduce and eliminate items like single-use plastics. Their work in turn helps to build the circular economy, which promotes the extension of product lifecycles and aims to decrease solid waste and pollution.
IMPACT:
89,128 square meters of blue carbon ecosystems protected or restored
In addition to sustaining marine life and the communities that depend on it, coastal ecosystems account for approximately half of the total carbon sequestered in ocean sediments. These may include coral reefs, mangrove forests, kelp forests, wetlands, and seagrass beds. Together, they serve as nurseries for marine organisms and as critical areas of blue carbon capture.
However, many marine ecosystems are experiencing degradation and destruction by human activities, which not only leads to species depletion, but also releases the critically stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
Solutions in this category have monitored 150,000 kilometers of coastline for climate change adaptation planning, detected 67,000 whales to avoid marine collisions, produced 150+ ocean literacy reports and media projects, hosted 260 events with more than 30,000 youth participants, and much more.
More than 80% of our ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. In the United States, only 35% of the ocean and coastal waters have been mapped with modern methods. In order to inform policy decisions that ensure marine and coastal ecosystem sustainability—and to empower humans worldwide to take local action to save the ocean—we need reliable data sources, mapping, and consistent analysis.
Some projects in the category of ocean literacy, data, and research focus on data collection and analysis, while other initiatives are dedicated to fostering knowledge-sharing and creating local opportunities for action. All play critical roles in leveraging knowledge and technical skills to catalyze lasting ocean impact.
Every year, 30% of commercial fish stocks are overfished, while harmful fishing practices cause over 38 million tons of bycatch (the incidental capture of a non-target species). As a result, this institutionalized overfishing has contributed to a marked decrease in recorded marine species over the last 40 years.
Sustainable protein, fisheries, and aquaculture solutions address the challenge of sustainably feeding the world's growing human population without the continued exploitation of marine habitats and species.
SOA’s solutions in this area are varied, with many developing new, innovative systems of impact tracking. One Microgrant project is developing a supply chain around selling “gourmet” sea urchins in order to quell California’s invasive purple sea urchin population explosion. Another is piloting a CSA-style delivery service in the Philippines to support seasonal, sustainably caught seafood. Our Accelerator alumni are hard at work in this area as well, developing plant-based alternatives to seafood (think kelp burgers, kelp jerky, and cell-cultured tuna), net sensors to reduce bycatch, deepwater solar irrigation for seaweed farming, and more.
Microgrant
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Peru
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Javier Validivia De La Gala
SOA Arequipa aims to disseminate science and pollution reduction solutions through social networks, campaigns, and expositions for public and private centers to spread awareness of the regional impacts of marine pollution. They guided participants through experiential learning such as in-person documentation trips and the creation of public presentations on the matter.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Kenya
Carbon (CO2) Reduction & Blue Carbon
Josphat Nguu
Mikoko Pamoja is one of the world's first Blue Carbon mangrove projects. Founded in 2010, they train community members on mangrove planting and reimburse them with carbon credits. This project implements the usage of clay pots to house mangrove nurseries—rather than plastic bags. Local women produce the pots and teach participants how to make their own.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Cameroon
Ecosystem Preservation & Restoration
Forbi Perise
The Let the Sea Turtle Live Project is a continuation of a project started in 2019 by Forbi Perise. The project's goal is to educate the general public about endangered sea turtles and the impacts that human behaviors and activities have on them. The project will raise awareness via school outreach, presentations, and educational material.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Australia
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Heidi Dumesich
The mission of SOA Australia is to be the overarching hub to support all of the hubs across Australia as well as be their space for individuals and companies to learn about the importance of the ocean. Their first projects included webinars and online events to connect young leaders from across Australia and build the network.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Ghana
Ecosystem Preservation & Restoration
Iddrisu Amadu
This project builds awareness on the conservation status of dolphins and other marine mammals and build the capacity of fishers to provide rescue assistance to stranded dolphins and other marine mammals. They utilize a combination of workshops and social and in-person media advocacy, as well as a volunteer program.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Indonesia
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Firli Rahman Hakim Fauzi
This research project focuses on a natural self-defense chemical used by the sea cucumber species, Synaptula reticulata. The researchers hope to synthesize this natural repellent in the lab in order to use it as a natural pesticide for aqualculturists, which in turn can lead to faster growth rates and lower mortality of aquaculture-grown fish.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Colombia
Pollution Reduction & the Circular Economy
Maria Barcasnegras
Bocas de Ceniza is the point where the Magdalena River flows into the Caribbean Sea. Over the last 10 years, this region has been affected by pollution and toxic waste. This project developed an educational series, implemented a clean up, and introduced a citizen-science process to encourage participants to identify and document usable material and the process in a toolkit.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Japan
Pollution Reduction & the Circular Economy
Robin Takashi Lewis
Mymizu (“mizu” is water in Japanese) provides a free water refill platform that connects people to 200,000+ locations globally where they can refill their water bottle, instead of buying bottled water. This project supported the development of educational materials for Mymizu volunteers and community members to carry out their own workshops across Japan.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Costa Rica
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Ricardo Brenes
The SOA Hub Barra del Colorado in Limón, Costa Rica conducts animal monitoring activities, workshops, and beach cleanups. Coastal bird counts are done through monitoring of shorebird populations on Barra del Colorado beach. The hub also launched the first official monitoring of sea turtles on the beaches of Barra del Colorado, Agua Dulce and Samay to define requirements for a permanent research project. The Hub also monitored seacow populations, and executed regular beach clean-ups and workshops with local youth.
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