Climate change has disrupted water systems around the world. As sea levels rise and rain patterns shift, agricultural land is becoming saltier. This ‘salinisation’ is a serious problem- threatening soil fertility and our global food security.
Harnessing the power of naturally salt tolerant plants, known as Halophytes, NARA Climate is restoring salt affected farmland around the world into productive ecosystems. RAZOR’s Amelia Hemphill visits their latest project in Andalusia, Spain to meet founder Yanik Nyberg.
NARA's approach incentivises restoration by turning the land into a carbon sink which can be commercialized by selling carbon credits. The salt tolerant plants can also be harvested for a range of innovative uses. In Denmark, biotech company, Halorefine has developed a biorefinery technology to extract the valuable bioactive compounds the halophyte plants contain, for cosmetics and for a fish feed stock.
RAZOR also visits a three Michelin star restaurant. Aponiente was started by Angel Leon - known in Spain as Chef del Mar or ‘The chef of the sea’. He has set out to change the way people think about the ocean and uses the marshes flora and fauna to create a 22-course fine dining experience.