Forestry & Seaweed

Cascadia Seaweed Corp of British Columbia, Canada

Bloomsbury Natural Capital (BNC) has a 4%+ equity stake in Cascadia Seaweed Corp of British Columbia. BNC’s Director Martin Hollands is Senior Advisor to the Cascadia Board, on Ecosystem Services and Restorative Aquaculture.

Cascadia was founded in January 2019 and has grown very rapidly, with the team now over twenty people. In 2023, it is farming 29 hectares, which will rise to 39 hectares in 2024 with the start of the North Coast Hub, then 152 hectares in 2025 after the completion of that Hub. It works in close partnership with First Nations. Seaweeds presently cultivated by Cascadia are sugar kelp, winged kelp, giant kelp and Pacific dulse. Primary processing is done at Nanaimo.

The Cascadia Plant Health Division is now marketing (via ReFeed Canada) liquid seaweed extracts for agricultural use. This will be followed in early 2024 by the launch of agricultural bio-stimulants, which enhance plant growth, increase resistance to disease and drought, and reduce the need for artificial fertilizers. Shortly after that, Cascadia Animal Health Division will launch cattle feed supplements, containing cold-water seaweeds, with the aims of improving livestock feed conversion ratios and reducing bovine methane emissions.

Kelp absorbs excess nutrients from seawater and sequesters carbon, thus reducing ocean acidification. Seaweed cultivation also significantly increases local marine biodiversity and can reduce coastal erosion. Currently, Cascadia is participating in research using underwater video cameras to help evaluate kelp farms as habitat for migrating salmonids and their prey.


Xilva AG of Switzerland

Bloomsbury Natural Capital (BNC) holds 6% of Xilva’s convertible loan notes. BNC’s Director, Martin Hollands is BNC’s Director on the Xilva Board.

Xilva provides a digital platform for investing in regenerative forests. It sources, screens and funds projects. It provides two principal services. The Xilva FOREST+ PORTFOLIO provides a catalogue of rigorously assessed high integrity forests, enabling users to maximize impact and minimize risk. The Xilva GRADE service provides a proprietary forest evaluation methodology for investors, project developers and corporate buyers. By accelerating investment in forests, the company adds to the pace of carbon sequestration, besides yielding biodiversity, water and employment benefits.




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