“Community-Based Restoration and Monitoring: The Southern California Regional Kelp
Restoration Project”
Chantal E. Collier, California Coastkeeper Alliance

In the Northern Hemisphere, underwater forests of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, occur
exclusively along the coast of California and the northern reaches of Baja California. Kelp
forests create a uniquely productive marine habitat for over 800 species and greatly enrich our
lives through their economic, aesthetic and intrinsic value. However, in southern California,
combined effects from decades of both natural and anthropogenic disturbances resulted in a net
decline in the abundance of kelp forests and the diversity they support. In 2001, the California
Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA), through a partnership with NOAA Fisheries’ Community-Based
Restoration Program, launched a regional-scale project to restore kelp forests to depleted reefs in
southern California, where kelp was previously abundant. The Southern California Regional
Kelp Restoration Project (SCRKRP) differs importantly from previous kelp restoration efforts in
that it places a primary emphasis upon community participation.

The California Coastkeeper Alliance is a coalition of six nonprofit, environmental Keeper
organizations dedicated to protecting and restoring coastal habitats along the Southern California
Bight and in Baja California. Coastkeeper biologists organize volunteer scuba divers into
restoration teams, trained to replant, monitor and maintain kelp forests in their local coastal
communities. Portable eco-Kart aquaria placed in science classrooms throughout southern
California give students an opportunity to study and grow kelp while directly participating in
conservation.

The development of a peer-reviewed, “volunteer-friendly” restoration and monitoring protocol
was fundamental to implementing the project and facilitating community participation. Studies
conducted by our organization and 30 years of research by others showed the most effective kelp
restoration approach to be multi-faceted. The SCRKRP combines outplanting of laboratory-
reared juvenile kelp, seeding barren reefs with Macrocystis spores, relocating grazing sea urchins
and transplanting drift kelp. Juvenile kelp is cultivated, with assistance from volunteers at the
CCKA Regional Kelp Mariculture Laboratory, centrally located in the Port of Los Angeles at the
Southern California Marine Institute, and by students in classroom eco-Karts. Monitoring of
restoration and reference sites provides baseline data and is an essential part of evaluating the
progress and success of this project. Working alongside Coastkeeper biologists, trained
volunteers conduct surveys of fish, invertebrate and algal abundance and diversity to identify
changes in Macrocystis populations and kelp forest community composition.

The hallmark of the Southern California Regional Kelp Restoration Project is its high level of
community participation, involving students, volunteers, scientific advisors and governmental
and foundation support. Community-based restoration and monitoring provides the resources
needed to carry out this large-scale regional project and promotes environmental stewardship
among participants.