EnviroStrat is the lead consultant on a National Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Framework and two pilot MSPs at local Government level in The Philippines, integrating the archipelago’s fisheries with a broader blue economy assessment with fisherfolk at its heart. Some 2.15 million people are employed in the ocean economy, where fisheries and aquaculture contributed US$2.37 billion (1.5% of GDP) in 2016, and employed a large majority of small-scale fisherfolk that sustain households on the coast. For the past decade, marine fishery catches averaged 2 million tonnes per year (topped by exports of tuna followed by seaweeds and crabs). But fishing,…
A powerful call to action in restoration rather than extraction was shared with more than 100 community and political leaders at the Te Kori a te K? Nature Symposium in Akaroa on New Zealand’s South Island. Opening the event held by ?nuku R?nanga at Akaroa marae, R?nanga Chair Rik Tainui shared the 200-year vision guiding action to restore the mauri of Akaroa harbour and create pathways for ecological repair and local jobs – including through regenerative seaweed farming. Home to generations of wh?nau and of immense significance to Ng?i Tahu, ?nuku was the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed within the Ng?i Tahu takiw? on May 30, 1840 — the first of three Treaty signings on Te Waipounamu, New Zealand’s South Island. More than 150 years later, in 1998, it was also the…
From our EnviroStrat Explainer series, we talk about Blue Carbon. Q – What is blue carbon? A - Blue carbon is the carbon sequestered in coastal and marine ecosystems. These ecosystems commonly include mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes. You may have heard about soil storing carbon, and blue carbon is the coastal and oceanic equivalent of this. Q – What work has EnviroStrat been doing in this area? A - Among our clients are The World Bank. The World Bank's first-of-its-kind blue carbon readiness framework empowers governments to tap into their full blue carbon potential to benefit people and…
Turning possibility into practice has shaped everything we do. Much of our focus has been on activating
new revenue streams and attracting investment to deal with large and often seemingly unsolvable
environmental challenges.
We are grateful for our advisory clients and the investors and collaborators in our impact ventures
returning and new – for trusting us to design and deploy approaches that value ecosystem services, co
design interventions for freshwater, ocean, and land-based ecosystems, and grounded approaches to
adaptation and resilience, risk mitigation, and regeneration.
Aquaculture expansion across ASEAN is full of opportunity, but “where to grow” is the make-or-break question for sustainability, livelihoods, and investment confidence. The World Bank has commissioned EnviroStrat to undertake a study that will support the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Department of Aquaculture Development (DAD) within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with planning decisions regarding suitable locations for the sustainable expansion of freshwater aquaculture. The project will produce a set of clear maps showing where freshwater aquaculture is most likely to work well — and where it isn’t using GIS and Multi Criteria Analysis. These maps…
When we talk about ocean health, we’re talking about community livelihoods and their reliance marine ecosystems that can meet their needs into the future. In the Philippines, this connection is profound. As an archipelago country, Philippines is one of the most megadiverse places on Earth, home to an estimated 70-80% of global plant and animal species. With more than 2.5 million registered fisherfolk, the archipelago nation depends on the sea for daily income, food security and cultural identity. But marine space is not empty space, it is shared space. Fishing, aquaculture, tourism, shipping, offshore wind, conservation and tourism areas provide…
For years, the scallop shell has been a symbol of Kiwi summers – its meat golden-seared on a barbecue, skewered at a bach, or piled high at Whitianga’s famous Scallop Festival. But beneath the nostalgia lies something far less celebratory: New Zealand’s wild scallop populations have collapsed, their once-abundant beds dredged, degraded and, in many cases, destroyed. Much of what we believed about scallops, from spawning behaviour to habitat preferences, is incomplete, borrowed from work overseas, or only partially tested in New Zealand conditions. “We’ve taken a species we barely understood,” says Dr Jenny Hillman - a marine scientist at University of Auckland, “dredged it…
The way in which New Zealand manages land and water (ICM) holds value that stretches far beyond our borders. Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), as it’s known in Southeast Asia, is the focus of a major project for EnviroStrat, members of which recently visited seven Southeast Asian nations on a field mission as part of our work for the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). PEMSEA has 11 Country Partners (CP) and 21 Non-Country Partners. Supported by the Global Environment Facility, the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Project is working to set-up functional management mechanisms…
EnviroStrat has just welcomed another cohort of interns to our Auckland office, and our Comms Lead caught up with Liam, Georgia and Alicia to find out what brought to them to us and to hear about their summer plans. Liam Arthur-Hunt (20) is originally from Devonport in Auckland, where he met EnviroStrat CEO Dr Nigel Bradly while playing Wednesday night cricket. The pair got chatting about Liam’s study of economics at the University of Otago, and Nigel shared that he did his Phd in economics. Liam is heading to Vienna, Austria, for an exchange in February but will spend his summer…
As the final hours close on COP30 in Belem, Brazil, tensions and temperatures (literally) have been rising. The second week of discussions in ‘the gateway to the Amazon’ saw parties stuck in a deadlock over fossil fuels, a fire spread across the blue zone, an Indigenous blockade, and arguments over the future of deforestation. This COP has been filled with symbolism. The conference ended in the early hours of Saturday morning with a contentious final deal that, for many, fell short of expectations. Participants have expressed frustration at COP President André Corrêa do Lago and how the meetings have been…
By Laura Read EnviroStrat Geospatial Analyst EnviroStrat is combining geospatial analysis, Earth Observation (EO) and impact ventures to accelerate restoration of New Zealand’s coastal ecosystems. Since joining EnviroStrat in 2023, I’ve been building our GIS and Earth Observation capability to better understand and support our impact ventures aimed at regenerating our natural environments. The ORA Reefs project has initially been focused on clearing kina barrens, a symptom of the overfishing of their key predators and global warming. This phenomenon is not just seen in Aotearoa but globally. Once healthy, thriving kelp forests are reduced to barren areas by sea urchin…
Natasha Jacobs gives us the Week One COP update It’s been a big week for Belem, host city for COP30. Delegations from 194 countries, activists, and over 4000 members of the media have descended on the ‘capital of the Amazon’ to discuss global action on climate change. The US made a historic no-show for the first time in COP history. New Zealand has a total of 79 registered attendees, Australia 494 and the UK 210. The big-ticket item, and a central point of discussion this week has been the Baku to Belem roadmap, a paper that aims to outline how climate finance could be scaled up…
Photo: Jeremy Bishop/Unsplash By Natasha Jacobs COP30 is less than a week away, and as always, a lot is already at stake. COP stands for Conference of Parties and is a global summit for partis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to assess progress towards action on climate change. Specifically, the COP is also a space to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding treaty for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the Paris Agreement, which aims to reduce global temperatures to ‘well below 2 °C’. This year is the conference’s…
Fresh from the ANZSA Seaweed Summit 2025, Huna Hough talks us through some of the highlights for this year’s themed event: From Niche to Noticed: Building the Value Chain for our Seaweed Economy. Huna: I attended the ANZSA Seaweed Summit with the rest of the Greenwave Aotearoa team, and being new to the seaweed space, it was great to meet the people behind much of the work I’ve followed and researched over the past year. I also met others doing exciting projects I hadn’t yet discovered. There were many highlights from the day, but I particularly enjoyed hearing Dan Crossett…
Parliament has passed the Hauraki Gulf / T?kapa Moana Marine Protection Act — a once-in-a-generation milestone for the Gulf. The new law establishes 19 protected areas: 12 High Protection Areas, 5 Seafloor Protection Areas, and extensions to two marine reserves. Together, these protections lift the safeguarded area of the Gulf from around 6% to 18%. It is a significant shift. By creating areas where damaging activities are curtailed, ecosystems are given the breathing space they need to recover. For the communities who live around the Gulf and the countless people who visit, fish, sail, and swim here, this change signals…
We want to thank and acknowledge the work by EnviroStrat intern Ryan Whitener, 23, who joined us from a small coastal town of El Segundo in California. Ryan completed a degree in Organisational Communication at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU). His professors included Dr. Rob Gailey – who met EnviroStrat founder Dr Nigel Bradly and together developed the opportunity for EnviroStrat to host graduates from the University through international internships. Reflecting on his three-month with EnviroStrat in 2025, Ryan says he’s grateful for the knowledge and confidence gained from being an integral part of a small team that’s working across…
"Earlier this month I had the privilege of attending the STEMtastic Adventures for Young Pacific Leaders Symposium (9–11 September) hosted at Fiji National University’s Namaka Campus. It was my first time in Fiji, and I left feeling inspired, challenged, and deeply grateful for the connections and conversations I was part of. "The symposium created a space to reimagine STEM through Pacific perspectives. It reminded me of the Pacific tradition of wayfinding where the ocean connects rather than divides us. That spirit of connection was at the heart of every conversation, whether about education, culture, or innovation. "I had the opportunity…
Like most regions, ASEAN countries face more extreme weather patterns, so riverbased systems must cope to ensure people are safe and thriving, alongside productive landscapes.
Ross Abercrombie, EnviroStrat.
Now is the time to support and scale what works and ensure finance flows to where it can drive real, lasting impact.
The New Zealand Government is expected to release a set of high-level principles for a voluntary biodiversity credit market during National Fieldays. Associate Environment Minister Hon Andrew Hoggard told Parliament last month that this work would be tested via pilot projects, and he discussed the potential for farmers’ creating benefits for biodiversity and for their businesses. “I see as a particularly beneficial project that will help out our farmers quite considerably and other landowners who have native bush on their farms or land and, basically, give them a carrot, as opposed to the stick approach, of "Here is an incentive…
EnviroStrat Explainer:?? Nature Credit markets? Q What are nature credit markets?? Nature credit markets enable the trade of credits representing efforts to conserve or restore ecosystems. Buyers—such as corporations, governments, or investors—purchase credits to meet environmental goals, improve their sustainability credentials, or fulfill regulatory requirements.?? There are several options, including nutrient reduction, plastic reduction, water quality improvements, biodiversity, or carbon. At a high level, credits can be nature-specific or nature-related carbon. The former is linked to ecosystem services, while the latter is associated with carbon sequestration.?? Carbon Credits: Focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.? Biodiversity Credits: Emphasize measurable improvements…
I would say to young people worried about the state of the ocean and climate, don’t be too doom and gloom about it. I know it’s really hard, and I know it can be really sad and scary sometimes – but when you start to meet people that are working in this space, you realise just how many people actually care.
At Moana Auckland Sustainability Expo in New Zealand, EnviroStrat Sustainability Director Cerasela Stancu presented on the opportunity for new finance tools to capture value from conservation and restoration work. EnviroStrat has created impact ventures focused on the blue economy, including growing native New Zealand seaweed to create a sustainable supply chain, restoring areas of reef ecosystem and exploring how scallops can be grown in an aquaculture setting. In 2022, activities that use ocean resources contributed more than $10 billion to the New Zealand economy (3.9% of GDP). However, if the sector moved to more sustainable practices, that figure could increase to…
A third of New Zealand’s land is in conservation estate - ‘priceless’ places vital for biodiversity, spiritual and cultural value, carbon storage, erosion control, nutrient cycling, and hazard mitigation. They also feed our spirits and draw overseas visitors to enjoy our wild landscapes. In November 2024, the Government released two discussion documents proposing major changes to conservation law. If we want to truly value and protect our estate, we need to consider who pays and how we make up for the shortfall in financing our conservation estate. Minister of Conservation Hon Tama Potaka’s Exploring charging for access to some public…
CEO Dr Nigel Bradly talks business model shifts, environmental impact, and the benefit of hindsight to New Zealand's National Business Review Journalist: Kate McVicar. About five years ago, EnviroStrat wanted to create environmental change rather than wait for it to happen, and started to develop its own startup ventures. In 2021, Envirostrat launched its first venture, Greenwave, followed by Kinanomics, Save Our Scallops, and ORA Reefs. The ventures are owned under the Regenerative Ocean Trust, which also receives philanthropic donations to help fund the projects. However, the intention is to grow the startups to a scale where they can be…
EnviroStrat is pleased to announce it is the 49th member of the global 1000 Ocean Startups coalition. The Coalition seeks to invest in and scale at least 1000 transformative startups by the end of the UN Ocean Decade - and to join, members must be active beyond the stage of ideas or concepts, with an innovative, scalable and “ocean positive” model. EnviroStrat has been directly investing in, and leading, multiple ventures in New Zealand in recent years - which began with our Greenwave Aotearoa venture and our Kinanomics venture. We've expanded to sustainable scallop aquaculture and the restoration of wild…
One of the greatest challenges in marine restoration is the lack of visibility. Unlike terrestrial ecosystems, where changes can be observed easily, much of the work being done underwater remains hidden from view. At the start of the year, EnviroStrat was gifted an underwater ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) to support our regenerative aquaculture and reef restoration efforts for Ocean Regeneration Aotearoa (ORA). We are currently exploring this specialised piece of equipment as a way to supplement monitoring work, helping us assess marine habitats before and after restoration interventions. The ROV provides a solution by allowing us to see, document, and…
We were privileged to be asked to contribute to New Zealand's Sustainable Business Network's Predictions for sustainable business in 2025.
The organisation asked a select group of Kiwi innovators and visionaries to share their predictions for sustainable business as members of the Next 95.
Here's what we shared alongside others in this network.
How do you challenge the thinking that restoring a degraded habitat can't surely be a profitable activity? EnviroStrat's Kinanomics project is a great example of the blue economy, and this article explains how an environmental problem can also be a business opportunity. Kinanomics Aotearoa is set to scale in 2025. We enjoyed our Kinanomics work being featured in the Voices of Tangaroa podcast on Radio New Zealand. Here's how we achieved our proof-of-concept: The purpose of of Kinanomics New Zealand was: To develop a new, high value seafood export industry that provides commercial, social and environmental benefit to Aotearoa New…
Cop29 is drawing to a close in Baku, Azerbaijan; EnviroStrat’s Natasha Jacobs summarises the key takeaways from the global climate change summit. But first, what is Cop29? Cop stands for Conference of Parties; the summit his held annually, with this year’s conference being the 29th. Over the last two weeks, ministers, envoys, negotiators and activists have flocked to Baku to try to make progress on agreeing global commitments to fight climate change. This year finance is the hot topic, and the primary aim of the conference has been to agree a new target for how, and how much, money should…
