Plain answers on what we do, the science behind it, and how restoration gets funded.
Who we are and how to get involved.
Making recovery last beyond a single project.
Ocean Regeneration Aotearoa (ORA) is a New Zealand charitable trust working in ocean restoration, blue finance and nature markets. It brings together philanthropy, government and private investment to create and deliver ocean-positive ventures, including Greenwave Aotearoa, ORA Reefs, ORA Scallops and Kinanomics.ORA works in partnership with EnviroStrat, an impact investment venture studio and environmental advisory.
Ocean regeneration means actively helping marine ecosystems recover, rather than only protecting what remains. It combines habitat restoration, rebuilding key species and long-term monitoring with ventures that earn revenue, so recovery can be funded and sustained.For ORA, that covers kelp forest restoration, shellfish restoration, regenerative aquaculture and finance tools such as nature credits.ORA works in partnership with EnviroStrat, an impact investment venture studio and environmental advisory.
For generations, Aotearoa's coastal waters supported vast kelp forests, abundant shellfish beds and complex reef communities. These ecosystems fed people, supported wildlife and shaped our relationship with the coast.In many places that abundance has been dramatically reduced. ORA was set up to help reverse that decline by funding, building and running ventures that restore our coasts and create lasting value for the communities who depend on them.
Ocean regeneration is a collective effort, and everyone has a part to play. From supporting local marine restoration projects and making ocean-conscious choices to contributing through donations, partnerships or research, there are many ways to make a difference. By supporting Ocean Regeneration Aotearoa, you're helping advance kelp forest recovery, scallop restoration and regenerative ocean ventures working towards healthier coastal ecosystems across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Kelp forests disappear. When ecological balance is disrupted, kina can become highly abundant and graze reefs bare, removing the underwater forests that feed and shelter marine life.Shellfish beds collapse. Scallop populations have declined to the point that most wild fisheries are closed, and degraded habitat and low adult numbers make natural recovery difficult.Recovery gets harder. Climate change, sedimentation, habitat disturbance and the loss of key species compound one another. Protecting what remains is essential, but in some places active restoration is also needed.
Kina (sea urchins) graze on kelp. Predators such as crayfish and snapper normally keep their numbers in check. When predator numbers decline, kina can multiply until they graze reefs bare, leaving kina barrens: rocky areas where kelp has vanished and kina dominate.Large areas of the Hauraki Gulf's rocky reefs have shifted into this state. Research at the University of Auckland has shown that systematic kina removal can rapidly restore Ecklonia kelp forests, but the work has to be maintained until predators return.Our ORA Reefs team clears barrens, and Kinanomics showed that kina removed from barrens can be enhanced into a premium seafood product, helping pay for the work.
Kelp forests give food and shelter to fish and other marine life. Healthy forests also act as natural seedbanks: spores drift on currents, settle on nearby bare rock and gradually re-green it. Left alone, this can take years.ORA Reefs speeds it up by clearing kina and spreading green gravel: small rocks seeded with microscopic Ecklonia radiata grown at the Greenwave Aotearoa hatchery, which grow into young kelp stands on bare reef.
Scallop beds are part of a healthy seafloor, but decades of over-harvesting, destructive fishing and habitat degradation have decimated them, and natural recovery is slow when few adults remain.ORA is developing New Zealand's first scallop farming systems and outplanting farmed adult scallops into depleted beds to rebuild wild breeding populations, alongside trials of low-impact harvest methods.
Restoring connected species and habitats together, rather than one problem at a time. ORA Reefs treats rocky reefs and soft-sediment seafloor as one system: removing kina barrens, reintroducing crayfish as natural kina predators, returning juvenile scallops to rebuild wild populations, and adding artificial reef modules seeded with kelp, mussels and oysters to rebuild habitat structure.
Nature is resilient. Healthy kelp forests can act as seed sources for nearby reefs. Cultivated shellfish can help rebuild depleted populations. Restoration science can identify where intervention is most effective, and long-term monitoring shows what is working.Our role is to turn that possibility into practical action.
Through blended capital: philanthropy, government grants and private investment. For several years EnviroStrat has also invested its own capital alongside donations and grants to get new blue impact projects off the ground.
A nature credit is an outcomes-based financial tool tied to verified improvement in biodiversity. ORA is developing a marine nature credit for restored reefs in Tīkapa Moana / the Hauraki Gulf, so restoration can be funded and maintained over decades rather than relying on short-term, highly contested grants.Credits depend on credible measurement, which is why ORA Reefs sets ecological baselines and tracks change with divers, drones, ROVs and satellite imagery.