We all know that what keeps us alive is the oxygen we breathe every second. We know that with the help of trees and land plants, the air around us is purified and is freed of carbon dioxide. We are aware that plants play an important role for our survival, so we have created a consciousness to preserve them. But what we do not know is that “only about 29 percent of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the land plants, while the other 71 percent is produced by the marine plants” (CCKA data), like the kelp forests.
A high concentration of these sources of life are located only along coastlines in different parts of the world. The California coast is one of the few places where a large number of kelp forest can be found. Besides the oxygen contribution “ kelp forests also provide food and shelter for over 800 species of the ocean, including some species that are highly endangered like the Adult Sheephead and the Southern Sea Otter”, according to the California Coastkeeper Alliance. Kelp forests are definitely a treasure that Nature gave to Californians.
Unfortunately, these giant kelp forests have been reduced by nearly 80 percent in the past 100 years. Natural, along with human-caused disturbances have taken their toll in these marine environment by not letting them recover from stormwaters and other types of pollution.
In 2001 California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) launched the “Southern California Kelp Restoration Project” focusing on restoring and monitoring major damaged sites like Point Loma, Del Mar, Salt Creek, Crystal Cove and Escondido beach in L.A. Also, through classroom education, like guest speakers and activities, they have educated over 700,000 Californian students on the importance of kelp and our efforts to protect and restore it. The CCKA thought that education and public outreach to inform citizens about this issue was a huge step towards solving this problem, and they were right. This project informed and created an eager community to protect the ocean…while it lasted, until 2008, when the CCKA thought that the accomplishments would be permanent.
Now, eight years later people have forgotten about this project and the eagerness to protect, clean and preserve these areas is gone. And many other people did not even hear about it. But we already know that if people are aware of this issue, if we remind them, people will react, just like in the “ Kelp Restoration Project”.
We should educate every California citizen about this magnificent environment we have at our coastline. We should let all ages to know the benefits and the responsibilities we have in order to preserve the Kelp Forests, as a rare and unique environment in the world. And there is no better way than inculcate this information and this consciousness directly from school. Please sign this petition to demand that the California Department of Education add an age appropriate environmental class to the General Education courses K-12, where the Kelp Forest protection and preservation will be discussed, along with other issues like stormwater, plastics and sustainable seafood.
We must inform and create an environmental consciousness in all Californians, since an early age. We already know that this technique of educating worked; during those years Californians were responsible and involved with the preservation of our sea. So why do we stop?
