How Google is Using AI to Conserve Australia's Kelp Reefs

Australia’s Great Southern Reef is a vibrant marine ecosystem now under severe threat. 

Once blanketed in giant kelp forests, large stretches of this underwater habitat have vanished due to warming seas driven by climate change. 

In response, Google and a coalition of partners are combining AI, research and global conservation experience to regenerate these vital marine environments.

An ecosystem in crisis

The Great Southern Reef stretches along Australia's southern coast, supporting a rich diversity of marine life – from fairy penguins to the critically endangered red handfish. 

Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, this ecological treasure remains largely unknown to the public, even though most Australians live close to it. 

Giant kelp forests, once prominent across the reef, now cover just 5% of their original extent in some areas such as Tasmania.

These forests are more than marine scenery. 

Like terrestrial forests, they regulate the environment, shelter biodiversity and support fisheries and carbon cycling. 

Their loss weakens entire ecosystems and amplifies the ocean’s vulnerability to climate stressors.

“Kelp is unlike any other organism on earth. Some of these seaweed species can grow two feet per day, up to 200 feet total,” Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google wrote on LinkedIn.

“That rapid growth means less carbon in the atmosphere and fewer pollutants in the ocean.” 

AI and satellites for restoration

Google Australia, in partnership with CSIRO, IMAS, The Nature Conservancy, the Kelp Forest Alliance and the Great Southern Reef Foundation, is using cutting-edge digital tools to locate and restore remaining kelp forests. 

Under its US$1bn Digital Future Initiative, the company is deploying Google Earth Engine and Vertex AI to map more than 7,000km² of kelp canopy and identify surviving heat-resistant kelp strains.

By analysing genetic traits of resilient kelp, scientists hope to propagate and replant varieties more likely to survive in a warming ocean. 

The tools and data generated by this initiative are being made open-source to support similar efforts globally. 

“With the help of Google AI, and the spirit of collaboration between all partners, we’re taking real steps towards restoring these vital kelp forests that previously seemed impossible,” says  Professor Craig Johnson, Marine Ecologist and Director of Marine and Antarctic Futures Centre at University of Tasmania (IMAS).

This model of technology-powered ecosystem repair builds on Google's wider environmental efforts, including its “Designing for Ecology” programme, which integrates biodiversity into campus design and land use planning.

Global water security

Google’s environmental efforts extend beyond the marine realm. 

Between 2014 and 2023, the company restored around 67 acres of native habitat and planted 4,500 native trees around its Bay Area campuses. 

Key examples include the Charleston Retention Basin restoration and the protection of bird rookeries near its offices.

Water security is another area of focus. 

With a goal to replenish 120% of the freshwater it uses by 2030, Google supported more than 100 water conservation projects in 2024 alone, collectively replenishing 4.5 billion gallons – with more expected as projects scale. 

These include AI-powered irrigation systems in Taiwan and France, as well as infrastructure upgrades in Chile and sustainable farming pilots in California.

“At Google, we’re using AI to map the existing invisible forests and discover new varieties that can survive and thrive in more challenging environments,” Kate wrote on LinkedIn. 

“It’s just one of the ways we’re seeing AI help preserve nature.”

Partnerships for climate resilience

Technology and global cooperation lie at the heart of Google’s sustainability approach.

Initiatives like Wildlife Insights use AI and camera trap data to track endangered species and support faster, better conservation decisions. 

Google Earth Engine supports monitoring efforts from tiger habitats to India’s national parks, enabling real-time insights into biodiversity loss and recovery.

Through collaborations with NGOs, scientists and local communities, the company is scaling conservation efforts to address urgent global challenges, from habitat loss and water scarcity to ecosystem degradation.

The restoration of Australia’s kelp forests is not just a regional priority but a global opportunity. 

By uniting ecological expertise, AI and public-private collaboration, this initiative demonstrates what’s possible in climate adaptation and restoration. 

To inspire wider action, Google is also raising awareness of the Great Southern Reef through a new Google Arts & Culture collection, spotlighting the reef’s cultural and ecological importance and amplifying Indigenous voices.

In the face of the environmental crisis, projects like these represent more than research, they are a call to action. 

A healthy planet demands urgent innovation, shared responsibility and bold partnerships to restore what has been lost and protect what remains.

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