Tassie seaweed success Sea Forest in the shortlist for Prince William’s $1.9 million EarthShot

Australian agricultural seaweed startup Sea Forest has been nominated for a 2023 EarthShot Prize, a program launched by Prince William and David Attenborough with the intention of supercharging ideas that could solve major environmental challenges.

Sea Forest is one of nine companies to hold a commercial license to produce FutureFeed, a CSIRO-backed livestock feed ingredient derived from the asparagopsis seaweed.

Promising studies show that when added to the diets of ruminant livestock like cows and sheep, the asparagopsis compound is capable of significantly reducing the methane emissions released by those animals.

The upshot is significant: methane is a major component of greenhouse gas emissions, and the farming sector is liable for an estimated 15% of methane artificially pushed into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The company, which claims it is now ready to produce and export its products in serious commercial volumes, is now one of fifteen enterprises vying for an EarthShot Prize.

Formed in 2020 by Prince William, the EarthShot Prize offers awards of £1 million (AU $1.9million) to winners in five categories: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.

A facility involved in the cultivation of asparagopsis. Source: Supplied

Sea Forest, in the Fix Our Climate category, is competing against Aquacyl, an American project focused on less-polluting methods of wastewater treatment, and Boomitra, a carbon credit marketplace.

“On behalf of the Sea Forest team, and the farmers, researchers, and retailers we are collaborating with, we are thrilled to be named as a finalist for the Earthshot Prize,” said Sam Elsom, Sea Forest founder.

“This is a win for Australian climate science and Australia’s leading role in emissions reduction initiatives.”

Should Sea Forest win in its category, it will become the second organisation from Australia to win an EarthShot Prize.

Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network secured top honours in the Revive Our Oceans category in 2022, recognising its work connecting Indigenous women engaged in biosecurity monitoring, coastal surveillance, and aquatic monitoring.

Larissa Hale, a proud Yuku Baja Muliku woman and ranger coordinator, said the award was a “game-changer” for the organisation.

Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network is the “only First Nations women’s program linking technological solutions and start-up opportunities to environmental outcomes ‘on country’ in Australia,” she told the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

The 2023 Earthshot Prize winners will be announced on November 7 in Singapore.