There’s a problem piling up on the shores of Mexico's famous Yucatan Peninsula. Since 2011, a brown seaweed called sargassum has been drifting onto the popular beaches of Quintana Roo. In 2019, it got so bad that local officials declared a ‘seaweed emergency’.
The unprecedented recent influx of Sargassum seaweed on coastal shores demonstrates the strain human activity has been putting on nature. Deforestation, agricultural expansion, and urbanization increase soil erosion and agricultural runoff, channeling micronutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and wastewater into the Ocean. Combined with warming ocean temperatures from climate change, this creates conditions that fuel massive Sargassum blooms.
In a region where tourism makes up nearly 90 per cent of the gross domestic product, piles of sargassum are contributing to an economic and ecological disaster. But now, with support from the UN Environment Programme and the Global Funds for Coral Reefs, local businesses are taking the problem weed and turning it into sustainable products like eco-friendly fertilizer, products for cosmetics and vegan leather.
GFCR is a public-private coalition deploying a range of financial solutions and support for sustainable businesses to improve the resilience of coastal ecosystems, economies, and communities.
The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) was established to accelerate urgent investment and action to enhance the resilience of coastal reef ecosystems, communities and economies. The GFCR comprises two major financial vehicles: a UN-led Grant Fund and a private-sector-led large-scale private equity impact Investment Fund. The GFCR aims to promote sustainable ocean production, spur sustainable coastal development and ecotourism, forge circular economies and pollution management, and enable technologies for a sustainable future.
