The Bezos Earth Fund has awarded the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) $100 million (€84.3 million), part of which will be put towards scaling up sustainable seaweed farming and protecting and restoring mangroves.
The grant, donated by Jeff Bezos, founder of online shopping behemoth Amazon, is aimed at speeding up the most promising solutions that harness the power of nature to provide for communities and stabilize the earth's climate.
Funds will be used to ramp up sustainable seaweed farming in the North Atlantic Rim region, develop new markets to accelerate the expansion of the industry and protect and restore mangroves in Colombia, Fiji, Madagascar, and Mexico.
One of the aims is to promote seaweed as an alternative to fossil fuel-based products.
Mangroves, which store carbon, are seen as a shield to coastal communities from the ravages of climate-driven weather events.
While shrimp aquaculture has been cited as a major contributor to global mangrove forest loss, restored mangroves are also being used to produce shrimp.
The grant will also be used to restore and protect forests and critical ecosystems through long-term integrated finance and protected area initiatives in the Amazon, Africa, and Central America.
“By investing in the power of nature-based climate solutions, these projects aim to deliver substantial emissions reductions, conserve nature in areas greater than the state of California and improve the resilience of more than 14 million people around the world,” said WWF-US President and CEO Carter Roberts.
Bezos established the $10 billion (€8.4 billion) Earth Fund earlier this year. The WWF donation was part of the first round of donations, which totaled $791 million (€667 million) to 16 organizations.
