Bentley Motors has announced its support for a major new marine restoration initiative off the coast of Sydney, marking the luxury brand’s first environmental project in Australian waters. Backed by the Bentley Environmental Foundation and delivered in partnership with Seatrees, Operation Crayweed and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, the programme aims to re-establish extensive “crayweed” kelp forests along the South Bondi Reef — ecosystems that vanished from the region more than four decades ago.
The commitment represents the latest milestone in Bentley’s global environmental strategy and its long-term collaboration with Seatrees, a partnership that has already delivered impactful projects across Africa, Europe and North America. With this new initiative, the Foundation expands its footprint to a fourth continent, supporting the regeneration of a critical marine habitat once considered locally extinct.
Reviving a Forgotten Forest Beneath the Waves
Kelp forests are often described as the rainforests of the ocean. Towering, fast-growing and highly productive, these ecosystems stabilise coastlines, store atmospheric carbon, generate oxygen, and support rich networks of marine life. In Australia, the native kelp species Phyllospora comosa — commonly known as crayweed — once dominated much of Sydney’s rocky reef systems.
That changed in the 1980s. Decades of poor water quality and urban impact caused crayweed to disappear entirely from the city’s reefs, leaving behind simplified ecosystems with diminished biodiversity. Despite the subsequent recovery of coastal conditions, the kelp never naturally returned. Without intervention, it remained one of Sydney’s most enduring ecological losses.
Bentley’s support will play a central role in reversing that trajectory.
A Precision-Guided Restoration Effort
The project focuses on two sites along the South Bondi subtidal rocky reef, where approximately 12,000 square feet of kelp forest will be restored. The process involves transplanting healthy adult crayweed from thriving populations and securely attaching them to deforested reef surfaces.
Working alongside restoration specialists from Operation Crayweed and researchers from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, divers will use biodegradable mesh mats — drilled into rock surfaces — to anchor the transplanted kelp. Once established, these adults will reproduce and seed the surrounding area, creating self-sustaining underwater forests capable of supporting fish, invertebrates and a wealth of associated marine species.
The sites will be closely monitored to track regrowth, survival rates and the return of marine life, ensuring that the restored forests remain resilient over time.
Wayne Bruce, Chief Communications and DEI Officer at Bentley — and the executive responsible for the Bentley Environmental Foundation — emphasised the broader significance of the initiative:
“Our award-winning Foundation is a key aspect of Bentley’s Beyond100+ strategy and commitment to global sustainability, and as part of this, we are pleased to continue our support for Seatrees and its outstanding work in restoring critical ocean ecosystems across the world. We know how important these underwater forests are for both people and planet, and with this latest project in Sydney, we hope to bring life back to an ecosystem that has been lost for decades.”
Seatrees co-founder and director Michael Stewart added:
“Seatrees is proud to continue its partnership with the Bentley Environmental Foundation, whose commitment to ocean health has helped us expand our restoration work across multiple ecosystems worldwide. Their support has been instrumental in accelerating kelp, mangrove, and seagrass projects around the globe. Launching this new kelp restoration effort in Sydney is a powerful next step in the impact we can achieve together.”
A Growing Global Commitment
Launched in 2023, the Bentley Environmental Foundation is a core component of Bentley’s Beyond100+ strategy, the company’s comprehensive roadmap toward a climate-positive future. The Foundation works with specialist NGOs whose expertise helps deliver measurable, long-lasting environmental progress at scale.
Its work is guided by three strategic pillars:
• Protect and Regenerate Nature
• Enable Changemakers
• Drive Innovative Solutions Towards Decarbonisation
In the two years since its inception, the Foundation has supported more than 20 projects across 14 countries, benefitting over 636,000 people and delivering more than 1,600 targeted environmental actions. These initiatives span reforestation, blue carbon restoration, community empowerment, and research into next-generation sustainability solutions.
With the launch of the South Bondi crayweed project, Bentley reinforces its commitment not only to future mobility, but to the health of the planet’s most vital natural systems. The restoration of a lost underwater forest — decades after its disappearance — stands as a symbolic and practical achievement: a tangible example of how industry, science and conservation can work together to regenerate ecosystems once thought beyond recovery.
And for the waters off Sydney, it marks the beginning of a new chapter — one where a forgotten kelp forest rises again.
