Appescar is the only app in Peru that allows small scale fishers in six ports in northern Peru to report data about their fishing trips and increase participatory monitoring and traceability. With this grant, they will further develop the app to allow for a new “diver” user to track landings that have been challenging to monitor, which will complement existing data from “in port observers,” “on-board fishers,” and “buyer” users to inform decision-making in small scale fisheries. To create this user, they will interview artisanal divers in northern Peru (from Talara in Piura to Zorritos in Tumbes) to characterize the fishery and to identify at least 2 key divers willing to report their catches into the mobile app.

Beach Collective, with conservationist Barbie Lyra Pitogo, will implement a pilot of the use of cryptocurrency $BEACH as remuneration for mangrove restoration activities, accepted by a number of local businesses in the community. Through the app Beach Pay, anyone with a username can send or receive $BEACH. With this grant, several local businesses will be enrolled in payment loops and participants will learn, then implement, community-based ecological mangrove restoration (CBEMR) techniques. Fees on transactions are reserved exclusively for further environmental activities. The long term goals are to remove the fiat currency backstop, increase liquidity and incentives for planet-positive behaviors in the community, and absorb 840 metric tonnes of CO2 over 25 years.

Kaimana was designated as an Indonesian regional marine protected area in 2019 to protect, preserve high biodiversity and utilize the potential of fisheries. Based on annual reef monitoring, some reefs have recovered naturally, but in Namatota, active restorations are required due to the high level of damage. Dennis, a past SOA grantee and current fisheries specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund, will lead one of the first efforts to restore Kaimana’s corals, by installing 60 coral spiders and creating five coral nurseries to accelerate and sustain the restoration of degraded reefs and increase the population of critical species. Members from three local communities will receive coral conservation training, and project leaders will seek formal village regulation to enforce the protection of the marine ecosystem.

Halsey Creek is one of the last remaining tidal salt marshes on the Charleston peninsula and serves as a critical source of food, habitat, and protection for a variety of migratory and local birds. It is currently under threat of sea level rise, urban development and pollution, nonnative species intrusion, and degradation due to neighboring uses. SOA Charleston is partnering with the Marshkeepers, a neighborhood coalition of hydrologists, historians, artists, journalists, and students who seek to protect, restore and enhance this unique and threatened tidal creek. Together, we will reintroduce plant native species to Halsey Creek's plant biodiversity, as a showcase of community-led management and restoration to be replicated throughout our wider community and region.

Ocean Uprise, a youth-led movement, hosts 2 virtual internships annually that bring together ocean leaders aged 16-26 years old to connect, be inspired by ocean experts, and learn how to design, plan, and put into action their own community projects #fortheoceans. This grant supported 20 interns in developing their own projects to create impactful change in their own communities; examples include: native plant restoration, cleanups, documentary screenings, educational talks, community inspiration events, artivism projects, fundraisers, and more. To date, 68 Ocean Uprise interns from 28 countries have participated, planting and restoring 5,800 native species, recovering 5,000kg of debris from cleanups, and educating 4,000 youth.

One World Breath–a youth-led, love-based, ocean-climate action movement–hopes to creatively draw attention to the fact that 80 percent of global biodiversity, including much of what produces the very oxygen we all need to breathe, is under the stewardship of Indigenous people. To share the story of Indigenous stewards who protect the marine ecosystems, they will create a short film focusing on the connection between kelp forests and Indigenous coastal people, and an original song and music video, filmed and directed by Craig Foster, director of "My Octopus Teacher."

KMFRI, a key implementation partner of Mikoko Pamoja—the world's first community led mangrove restoration project and SOA grantee—will plant 5,000 mangroves and install efficient stoves in 50 households to mitigate the use of mangroves for firewood. They will conduct a rigorous study, including a control group, to quantify the amount of carbon dioxide emissions avoided through use of these efficient stoves. With this data, their aim is to incorporate this carbon avoided into the accredited offsets of Mikoko Pamoja and sister project Vanga Blue Forest, which are sold through the UK Charity ACES.

Mikoko Pamoja, and its sister project Vanga Blue Forest, pioneered the use of mangrove carbon credits to fund community based conservation and restoration of mangroves. The market for these credits is buoyant and growing. There is clear potential to apply the same approach to seagrass conservation. However the greater costs of measuring seagrass carbon, combined with the smaller total carbon stocks, makes full accreditation of seagrass carbon using current protocols and standards financially unviable. This project will develop rigorous but affordable methods of measuring and reporting seagrass health by comparing two methods: collecting and digitally analyzing video and images (utilizing artificial intelligence) versus manual monitoring (point count and transect methods). The goal is to implement the methodology that best allows for community based conservation funded by bundling recorded, but not accredited, carbon benefits with mangrove credits.

OnDeck has developed a prototype that uses AI to identify fishing events that normally require human review. They conducted extensive interviews with the fishing community to ensure what they're developing meets their needs, differentiating their model from others in the space. With SOA support, they will pilot their FishInFrame model in commercial fisheries.