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About Net-Works
Summary
Net-WorksTM redesigns global supply chains to create sustainable and scalable solutions that reduce
marine plastic, increase 9sh stocks and improve the lives of marginalised coastal communities living in
biodiversity hotspots of developing countries. We connect these communities to global brands via a fair
and inclusive business model that delivers ‘less plastic, more 9sh’.

Operations in 40 communities in the Philippines and Cameroon, with expansion to Indonesia

underway.
Successfully established a community based supply chain for discarded 9shing nets – a major
source of plastic pollution and a hazard to marine life – collecting and recycling 224 metric tonnes
so far.
Now building out an ecological and inclusive seaweed supply chain for carrageenan (seaweed
extract) in Southeast Asia directly linked to measures that replenish 9sh stocks and avert the risk of
carrageenan becoming the ‘palm oil of the sea’.

The problem
On the current trajectory of plastic pollution and over9shing there will be one tonne of plastic for every
three tonnes of 9sh in the ocean by 2025. The people most affected are those in marginalised rural
communities within biodiversity hotspots of the developing world, especially in Southeast Asia which
contributes >60% of the world’s marine debris, is the centre of marine biodiversity, contains 55% of the
global population of artisanal reef 9shers and suffers the highest level of 9shing pressure.

Community-based Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with No-Take Zones (NTZs) and mangrove
rehabilitation areas are key tools for restoring coastal ecosystems and enhancing socio-ecological
resilience. There are >1,500 MPAs in the Philippines (NTZs average 12ha) that are often too small to be
effective due to high dependence of communities on 9shing. They typically focus on coral reefs and do
not capture critical seagrasses or mangroves, and are too dependent on donor funding cycles.

The solution
Net-Works provides a simple, scalable and holistic model to deliver less plastic, more 9sh and improve the
lives of marginalised coastal communities across Southeast Asia:

1. Applying the principles of fair trade and inclusive business, we create eXcient community-based
supply chains for raw materials (plastics and seaweed carrageenan) that are available in
abundance. We link these raw materials to conservation actions that reduce plastic pollution and
restore coastal ecosystems. Increasing incomes from seaweed reduces dependence on 9shing –
enabling communities to set aside larger NTZs.
2. We sell these raw materials into global supply chains, giving international brands opportunities to
source premium products with positive social and environmental stories, giving 9shing
communities a more transparent and dependable price, and providing sustainable funding sources
for local conservation and development actions. This ensures the sustainability of larger, more
effective multi-habitat MPAs, and quality controls and standards can be maintained independent of
external donors.
3. To manage local supply chains, we set up community banks, bringing communities together in
informal cooperatives and providing much needed access to 9nancial services, using the globally
recognised and proven Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model. These community
banks are the ‘social glue’ at the heart of Net-Works, enabling members to invest in their
sustainable livelihoods, building a Net-Works’ conservation constituency.

Progress
Net-Works started by developing a prototype around discarded 9shing nets that are recycled into nylon
yarn and sold to Interface Inc to make high design carpet tiles. We have been progressively building on
this foundation. To date we have:

Collected >224 metric tonnes of nets (increasing daily) – enough to go around the world >5 times –
which have been recycled into high quality nylon yarn and sold to Interface, Inc. to make high
design carpet tiles.
Conducted successful scienti9c trials of ecological seaweed farming in the Philippines.
Prototyped the 9rst ‘bigger’ community-based MPA needed to replenish 9sh stocks, covering 627ha,
with 202ha in a NTZ (up from the average12ha) in the Philippines. We are currently 9nalising
ordinances for a further three communities with NTZs over 200ha in size. Built the best-practice
standards and tools for these ‘bigger’ MPAs to also be ‘better’ MPAs that include seagrasses,
mangrove rehabilitation and improved governance and enforcement.
Given 2,200 families access to 9nance through our community banks, who are now advocates.
>1,200 members have voluntarily started making small weekly contributions to an ‘environment
pouch’, which is used to support conservation activities. Last month one community, ranked by
national measures as one of the poorest in the country, contributed ~$500 to upgrade their MPA
guardhouse.
Improved the marine environment for 64,000 people.

Received awards and recognition in the media, including the US Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate
Excellence (Sustainable Ocean Management 2016), MRW National Recycling Awards’ Business
Partnership of the year (2017), Guardian Sustainable Business award for collaboration (2015) among
others.

Next steps
We are now building out the supply chain for carrageenan (seaweed extract), which will be the economic
engine for scaling Net-Works across Southeast Asia. Carrageenan-bearing seaweed is used by the
cosmetics, toothpaste, 9re9ghting and food industries, and projected to have a global market value of
around $1bn by 2021. Seaweed farming is a popular activity in coastal communities across Southeast
Asia, with over 1 million people dependent on seaweed farming in the Philippines where it accounts for
35% of 9sheries production. Seaweed has potential to provide a valuable source of income to these
communities. However, the current seaweed supply chain is fraught with ineXciencies and inequalities.
As a result carrageenan is fast becoming the palm oil of the sea.

We link seaweed farming to MPAs, in line with the bigger and better MPAs already prototyped through this
project. By setting high social and environmental standards and improving eXciencies, Net-Works can
offer farmers a fair price that can double local incomes, as well as provide necessary technical support
services, affordable loans and insurance, and incentivises conservation.

Based on our experience to date we have forecast the costs and revenues for Net-Works including
carrageenan and nylon-6 as sources of revenue. Initial modelling suggests that carrageenan production
scaled across our existing communities could provide suXcient revenue to cover in-country overheads
and provide return on investment. These forecasts have resulted in interest from impact investors,
pending completion of a formal pilot of these forecasts in three communities.

In 2019 we plan to complete the full-scale pilot of the forecast costs and revenues in three villages and
prepare ourselves to be impact investment ready. By the end of 2019 we aim to have 100,000 Southeast
Asian people bene9ting from less marine debris, 2,500 families with access to 9nance, 1,200 ha of ocean
well protected to replenish 9sh stocks, and double incomes for seaweed farmers in the three pilot
communities. Securing impact investment, our medium term goal is to establish 50 hubs that better
protect 1 billion m2 of the ocean, provide 10,000 impoverished families with access to 9nance and
improved sources of income, and create a more resilient environment for 1 million people by 2022.
Ultimately, our long term vision for Net-Works to bene9t the 3.35 million Southeast Asian artisanal reef
9shers by reducing marine plastic and increasing 9sh stocks.

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