The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system, but it has proven vulnerable to climate change. It’s estimated that the GBR has lost half of its coral cover over the past 40 years. The Reef Restoration Foundation in North Queensland, thankfully, are doing something about it. They are successfully growing and caring for a collection of new state-of-the-art coral nurseries in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef. With their efforts, we are witnessing the growth of new first-generation corals. These corals are hand planted on nearby regenerated reefs, re-establishing the health of reefs that have been deeply affected by coral bleaching.
Header image of a coral nursery, courtesy of The Reef Restoration Foundation.
Great Barrier Reef. Photo by Todd Thimios
Being from North Queensland and having grown up diving on the Great Barrier Reef, nothing makes me happier than seeing its protection for generations to come, including for my own daughter.
Coral nursery. Photo courtesy of The Reef Restoration Foundation
Coral restoration efforts have been successfully assisting damaged reefs overseas to regenerate for more than three decades. The Reef Restoration Foundation. is a not-for-profit social enterprise and the first Great Barrier Reef nursery located near Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Divers working with these coral nurseries are manually regenerating damaged coral reefs by establishing ocean based coral nurseries. They are leading the charge for a healthier, more resilient Great Barrier Reef for the future.
The Great Barrier Reef is loved by Australians; it is part of our national identity. These recent bleaching events affect everybody. The Reef Restoration Foundation has chosen to act by growing and planting corals that are naturally more resilient for regenerating degraded reefs. The reef restoration process mimics a natural processes. Experienced team members take a small number of cuttings from healthy coral populations that have survived previous bleaching events and they transplant them across regenerating reefs. This results in the new reefs and their corals being naturally more resilient to higher water temperatures and to coral bleaching. What a win for the reef! Amazing work, Reef Restoration team.
