The 1001 Seaforest Species initiative, spearheaded by the Sea Change Project, sheds light on the intricate biodiversity of the Great African Seaforest, located along the Western Cape coastline. The project is driven by a simple yet profound realisation: we can only protect whatwe truly know and understand.

The Great African Seaforest, stretching along South Africa’s southern coastline, is a world teeming with biodiversity, awe-inspiring beauty, and ecological importance. Yet much of its hidden life remains shrouded in mystery, waiting to be documented.

Dr Jannes Landschoff, a marine biologist with the Sea Change Project, has spearheaded an extraordinary initiative: the 1001 Seaforest Species project. This biodiversity-focused endeavore merged from his deep connection to the seaforest.

"The passion grew with the realisation of how many incredible organisms exist, how poorly known many of them still are scientifically, and how we can only care about what we know," said Landschoff, in an interview with IOL. “I felt we really need to change that.”

From tiny invertebrates to elusive species, the seaforest brims with life that often goes unnoticed. Among Landschoff's most fascinating discoveries is a new species of clam, found in False Bay, living between the spines of heart urchins - a seemingly unlikely habitat.

"But when you are a small clam," he explains, "it makes a lot of sense to live between urch in spines because the spines provide great protection.

"These smaller, often overlooked creatures play an outsized role in maintaining the ecosystem’s health. "Thousands of small species, all connected in their own way to a most complicated foodweb, ensure that this ecosystem is functioning and resilient against environmental pressures and changes," Landschoff notes.

The Sea Change Project, known globally for its groundbreaking documentary My OctopusTeacher, uses initiatives like the 1001 Seaforest Species to bridge science and storytelling. “Sea Change aims to tell stories from a heart space," says Landschoff.

"We live at times of greatest challenges and adversity, and yet nature is the source of solutions to perhaps most of our problems.”

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1001 seaforest species initiative highlights the biodiversity of the great African seaforest