Source: Green Post Korea / Translated for THANKS CARBON Archive

At the 3rd Social Value Festa Korea, a wide range of innovative technologies and business models took center stage, offering practical solutions to pressing environmental challenges—from packaging compliance and waste recycling to renewable energy procurement and marine ecosystem restoration.

The Innovation & Environment Zone featured 25 companies and institutions presenting real-world environmental impact cases. Climate startups, in particular, focused on turning eco-friendly technologies into scalable business models. In a dedicated session, partners unveiled the four-year achievements of a major marine ecosystem restoration initiative, proving how corporate innovation can directly heal the planet.

A Growing Underwater Forest: The Impact of the ‘Blue Forest’ Seagrass Project

A key highlight of the event was a special program disclosing the four-year outcomes of the “Blue Forest” project, a joint initiative led by ThanksCarbon, LG Chem, Yeosu City, the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency (FIRA), and KFHI (Korea Food for the Hungry International).

The Blue Forest project is a public-private environmental initiative dedicated to restoring seagrass habitats off the coast of Daegyeongdo, Yeosu, and tracking subsequent ecosystem recovery. Seagrass which is a marine flowering plant serves as a vital nursery and shelter for marine life, while acting as a powerful natural sink for absorbing and storing carbon.

The initiative originated from LG Chem’s commitment to give back to the ocean, recognizing its reliance on seawater for industrial plant operations. ThanksCarbon designed the project framework and brought the partners together, proposing seagrass restoration as an integrated solution for both greenhouse gas reduction and biodiversity conservation. Yeosu City, FIRA, and KFHI joined to support regional coordination, planting, monitoring, and community education. Following the initial planting of 50,000 seagrass shoots in 2023, an additional 20,000 were planted in 2024, bringing the total to 70,000 shoots.

The ecological turnaround is already clear. According to monitoring data from 2023 to 2025 presented by Dr. Jookyeong Kim of FIRA, the seagrass coverage across the survey area expanded by 32% growing from 42.7 hectares to 56.37 hectares in just two years. Habitat density also jumped 52%, increasing from ~50 shoots/m² to ~76 shoots/m².

“We believe seeds produced by the transplanted shoots have naturally spread and colonized the surrounding areas,” Dr. Kim explained.

ThanksCarbon focused on turning nature-based recovery into verified metrics using diver surveys, drone mapping, and expert data analysis.

“We made sure the project moved beyond ‘doing good’ qualitatively, providing quantified, rigorous data that can be clearly reported,” said Haewon Kim, CEO of ThanksCarbon. “Bringing together local communities, global corporations, public agencies, and climate startups for a sustained, long-term initiative is, in itself, a meaningful breakthrough.”

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Industry experts at the event emphasized that on-the-ground cases like the Blue Forest project set a crucial precedent.

“As regulatory frameworks, market environments, and stakeholder demands rapidly evolve, ongoing technical refinement and verification are essential,” noted one industry analyst. “Restoring natural ecosystems is not a one-off effort. It requires continuous R&D, long-term stewardship, and rigorous scientific validation.”

Source: Green Post Korea / Translated for THANKS CARBON ArchiveReporter Ik-hoon Shin