“Blue Carbon Belt Concept” proposed by Riviera ~For the bountiful Sagami Bay~

As the topic comes up every time at the LOVE OCEAN "Sea Symposium," marine debris is not the only environmental problem surrounding Japan's oceans. Just as animals cannot live in mountains without plants, the seaweed beds that provide habitat for fish to lay eggs, raise their eggs, and protect themselves are rapidly decreasing due to global warming. The impact on this is being questioned. And this is the same for Sagami Bay. In order to protect the rich ocean, it is essential to restore seaweed beds.

At the same time as the marina business began in 2001, Riviera began environmental conservation activities due to a sense of crisis regarding climate change, and has been working on a wide range of sustainability initiatives since 2006. In addition to regularly removing floating debris from the sea and cleaning the beaches, Riviera The Blue Carbon Belt Riviera Research Institute (General Incorporated Association) has been actively involved in the "Shonan Blue Carbon" project to protect the marine ecosystem, such as supporting the development of marine ecosystems. In order to further expand the scope of our activities, we have recently established the Blue Carbon Belt Riviera Research Institute, a general incorporated association. We are proposing the ``Blue Carbon Belt Concept,'' in which seaweed beds are expanded into a belt.

In November 2022, Riviera Zushi Marina, the only sustainable marina in Asia that has received the Blue Flag, began the challenge of regenerating seaweed beds within the marina for the first time in Japan. This is the first step of the "Shonan Blue Carbon" project, and utilizes the early maturing whitefish discovered in Moroiso Iso Bay and successfully raised within the Kanagawa Prefectural Fisheries Center. By regenerating seaweed beds, we can absorb CO11 (blue carbon) in the ocean and contribute to decarbonization. We hope to first build a "Blue Carbon Belt" across Sagami Bay, and in the future, the entire Japanese archipelago will become a rich sea surrounded by a blue carbon belt.