Coral Gardeners Impact Report 2020
Coral Gardeners Impact Report 2020
Coral Gardeners Impact Report 2020
We are creating a world where human actions naturally protect marine life and its biodiversity,
and where our purpose to save coral reefs would become irrelevant.
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FOREWORD
TITOUAN BERNICOT year. Our project has been in the spotlight more
than ever, and we welcomed incredible guests like
Guillaume Néry, world champion freediver, Nash
FOUNDER AND CEO OF CORAL GARDENERS
Grier, famous YouTuber, and Mareva Galanter,
former Miss France and Miss Tahiti.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
WHO WE ARE
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
OUR PURPOSE
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
OUR PROGRAMS
The core of our work is built around coral reef
restoration. Every day, our restoration team jumps
in the water to monitor coral reefs, the coral nurseries,
or to plant corals. The aim is to restore abundance and
biodiversity, increase coral reef resilience, and identify
coral species that have better chance at surviving
global warming.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
REEF RESTORATION
OUR IMPACT AWARENESS
INNOVATION
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
Coral reefs are considered the most vulnerable ecosystem to climate change and local anthropogenic pressures. Since acting upon these stressors is not an easy task, the goal of coral reef
restoration is to help the ecosystem recover or maintain its natural functions. To do so, we have tested different reef restoration techniques to better address the needs of Mo’orea's reefs.
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FRAGMENTING GROWING PLANTING CREATING
10% of the super The fragments grow Once they are mature, The transplanted
corals identified in in our nurseries for they are trimmed and corals will keep
We want to thank all the scientists who helped us shape our program: Dr. Caroline Orban, Dr. Vetea Liao, Gonzalo
the lagoon are months. planted onto damaged on increasing the
Pérez- Rosales, Dr. René Galzin, Matthieu Petit, Romy Schneider, Léa Lebechnech, Mathilde Loubeyres, Dr. Austin
trimmed. reefs. resilience of the reef.
Bowden-Kerby, Louise Laing, Evelyne Chavent, Dr. Laetitia Hedouin and the CRIOBE.
*a bleaching event is when a peak in water temperature causes corals’ polyps to expel their symbiotic algae (Grottoli et all., 2017).
Sources: Loya, Y., Sakai, K., Yamazato, K., Nakano, Y., Sambali, H., and van Woesik, R. 2001.” Coral bleaching: the winners and the losers”. Ecology Letters 4 : 122–131. doi: 10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00203.x
Grottoli, AndréaG, Tchernov Dan and Winters Gidon. 2017. “Physiological and Biogeochemical Responses of Super-Corals to Thermal Stress from the Northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea”. Frontiers in Marine Science (4) : 215.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
Coral Gardeners restoration work is focused around the island of Mo'orea in French TIAIA 1
Polynesia. This map summarizes the work conducted from 2017 until now.
In 2020, we focused mostly on three restoration sites : Tiaia 1, Tiaia 2 and Maharepa. Fragments of opportunity
308 fragments planted
Survival rate: 68%
MAHAREPA
Fragments of opportunity
11,000* fragments planted TIAIA 2
INTERCONTINENTAL Survival rate: N.A.
10,000 fragments to
Fragments of opportunity be planted in 2022
300* fragments planted Survival rate: 98%
Survival rate: N.A. **
Adopt here
HQ
SOFITEL
Fragments of opportunity
1,000* fragments planted Fragments of opportunity
Survival rate: 45% 1,500* fragments planted
Survival rate: N.A.
BAMBOO
Fragments of opportunity
1,000* fragments planted AIMEO LODGE
Survival rate: N.A.
Fragments of opportunity
100* fragments planted
Survival rate: N.A. USA
Mo'orea
Australia
*monitoring data from 2017-2019 is provided with a 90% accuracy, and accounts for contingent errors inherent to the nature of the restoration activity.
**desktop only. For people on smartphones, please visit coralgardeners.org. v Source: Google Earth
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
Adopt here * *
RESTORATION TEAM
Our team visits the nursery several
times a week for maintenance and
monitoring.
CONNECTED BUOY
This technology collects valuable data to help
improve our restoration efforts such as water
temperature, wind, heat stress level, etc.
CORAL ROPES
Super coral nursery
To ensure genetic and species
biodiversity, 3,590 fragments were
collected from 145 colonies within 20
different species.
*desktop only. For people on smartphones, please visit coralgardeners.org.
CORAL GARDENERS
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
REEF RESTORATION
AWARENESS
INNOVATION
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
Our adoption program has always been our way for people from all around the world to join our movement and connect with our
mission. Since the beginning of Coral Gardeners, 13,700 people from 99 countries have adopted corals.
In 2020, we changed our coral adoption concept to keep reflecting our work on the field. Through the adoption, one can join our movement and receive news from the life of their
With our new restoration focus on super corals**, we now prioritize resilience over quantity. super corals, the nursery and our project.
As a result, we brainstormed and worked with our Coral Gardeners Collective members
to redefine our adoption program. The launch also coincided with the visit of our ambassador and YouTuber Nash Grier, with
whom we created a social campaign that drove awareness for our mission and encouraged
Our new adoption program launched in December 2020 alongside a brand-new website, people to join our movement. The result was almost 2,000 people joined the new adoption
features 10 super corals up for adoption hosted in our gene bank nursery at ¨Tiaia 2¨. program in only one month.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
In 2020, faced with new restrictions due to the The quadrats are located on top of the reef to ease
pandemic, we did not do as many local awareness the monitoring, and the ropes are placed in a
events as we had hoped. Yet, we launched our first structure 9 m deep.
long-term collaboration with two classes from the In December, we carried out our first growth and
high school Afareraitu, located on the East coast fitness monitoring that sparked enthusiasm and
of Mo'orea, to offer young Tahitians the possibility eagerness to learn more about corals and the ocean
to really commit to our mission and make it their own. ecosystem. Every three months, we meet with the
The project is called To’a Ora and stands for ¨Living students, and together we follow the evolution
Reef¨. of our project. We plan at transplanting the nursed
coral fragments back onto the reef at the end
Through their sixth to third grade curricula, the of 2021. Alongside the coral restoration aspect, this
students lead their own reef restoration project from collaborative project also aims at promoting our
the growth to the monitoring and the transplantation Tahitian culture and the key role that nature and the
of corals with Coral Gardeners’ assistance. ocean play in it.
In September, we introduced the students to coral
restoration, and installed with them four quadrats
of transplanted corals and four ropes of super coral 45 KIDS INVOLVED
fragments.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
generated*
*number of times our organic content has been viewed from 2017 to 2020.
**likes, comments and shares on social media from 2017 to 2020.
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dream for everyone to live in harmony with the ocean. Our team
went off the radar on an assignment to document an untamed
but fleeting world where coral reefs still thrive and a diversity
of creatures dwell in harmony around it, including us. Out of all
posts dedicated to this campaign, one stood out: the ¨Manta
Post¨.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
REEF RESTORATION
AWARENESS
INNOVATION
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INNOVATION
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
OPERATIONS
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
OUR TEAM
Titouan Thierry Karine Catherine Léo Ryan Killian Tevaite Laurent Laura Noémie
Evelyne Maoritai Taiano Yoann Salomé Drew Philippe Clara Caelan Romain
In 2020, the team grew tremendously. We recruited talents from all around the world - They contributed tremendously to our mission in 2020: Marie-Céline Piednoir,
individuals driven by the same grit and determination to revolutionize ocean conservation. Harry Lee, Kyra Shelley, Taumata Tuiaiho, Clotilde Grenier, Nicolas Dazet, Sandrine
We improved our digital tools to support internal collaboration with local and remote team Laxenaire, Alix Brassart, Danka Holzerova, Carolyn Saunders, Tehapai Crollas,
members, and invested in new diving equipment, restorations tools, and sustainable Dimitri Chant, Mathilde Loubeyres, Kelsey Williamson, Laura Barbaro and Tauaro
solutions for our offices (solar panels, wood deck, permaculture garden, etc.) Roometua.
We also want to thank all our mentors who are guiding our path with patience
21 TEAM MEMBERS and wisdom. We wouldn’t be there without you.
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
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-8,3 TONS
reduction in CO2 emissions
-50,000 KM
PERMACULTURE
GARDEN distance travelled by our electric
cars compared to gas vehicles
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WHO WE ARE OUR IMPACT OPERATIONS
22%
3% 1% 1%
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2020 IN A NUTSHELL
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THIS IS JUST THE
BEGINNING OF THE
OCEAN REVOLUTION