The Red Bulletin April 2021 (US)

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“Reefs are like the rainforests of the sea.” International rescue: The Coral Gardeners plan to expand their reef relief work from a localized concern to a global mission.
KELSEY WILLIAMSON achieve that, except becoming a marine biologist, and I didn’t want to do that, so I had to reinvent everything.” But Bernicot has always had a head for business. At the age of 11 he started his first company, selling stickers at school. The proceeds bought him his little aluminum boat. “I’ve always had the feeling that nothing is impossible. If you work hard and connect with the right people, you can achieve your dreams. And I’ve never worked so hard as this. Day and night.” Bernicot’s team has now grown from one to 20 full-time staff, who are paid a fair wage for their long hours, and all profits are reinvested into the company to fund the planting of coral, raising awareness worldwide, and innovation. Over the past four years, the group have planted more than 15,000 corals on the north side of Mo’orea. When they set off on a restoration mission, they start out by collecting pieces of coral scattered in the water. Destroyed chiefly by swells and human activity, these “fragments of opportunity”—as the team call them— are taken to a nursery, where they will regenerate, stabilize and grow in the best conditions possible over several months. These provide cuttings that are then replanted on damaged or completely dead reefs. The coral is wedged in a small crevice where it can survive alone. Marine cement is dabbed around the coral to strengthen it and keep it in position. “We like to say it’s a second chance for damaged coral,” Teiho says. “Plus it’s bringing new life to a dead coral head.” The Coral Gardeners monitor the replanted coral closely and record their observations to build a more detailed picture of how the changing environment affects them. There have already been breakthroughs. “People often ask, ‘OK, global warming is killing corals, so why are you planting them? They’re going to die anyway,’ ” says Bernicot. “Well, the scientists here found something super exciting this past couple of years: species of coral they’ve called super corals. Super corals are genotypes of coral that [can tolerate] the rise in water temperature. During a bleaching event, some of these corals are not dying— they’re more resilient. Our nurseries are like little gardens underwater where the coral will adapt themselves. We monitor them and let them grow for 12 to 18 months until they’re an ideal size. Then we’ll put them back onto a damaged reef in the hope that they’ll grow. If so, a Local hero: Titouan Bernicot spurned a potential career in business to save his island’s reef. couple of years later they could spawn. If we see this, it’s game on. Then they’ll be populating the reef around them.” However, Bernicot and his team know that replanting alone won’t be enough to stave off the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming. “We have a few little signs of hope,” says Bernicot, “but planting corals itself won’t save the reef, which is why we’re trying to also raise awareness. Basically, we need more people to give a shit about coral reefs. If we really want to help the reef, we need to create a worldwide movement of collaborative action at the same time as planting resilient corals.” To this end, the Coral Gardeners have already amassed a following of more than 500,000 on social media and through their coral adoption program—their main revenue stream—whereby people pay to adopt a particular coral, for which “We want to reach a figure of a million super corals planted back onto reefs worldwide by 2025.” they’re sent a picture, GPS coordinates and regular updates. More than 21,000 people have adopted so far, and that number is rising daily. There’s also an innovation center headed by Drew Gray, a former director of engineering at Uber and the first hire made by Elon Musk when developing Tesla’s self-driving car. The Californian is using his tech acumen to improve restoration of the reef, better monitor human impact and bring adopters closer to their coral—soon they’ll be able to see it growing online. “We have big plans,” says Bernicot. “We want to reach a million super corals planted back onto reefs worldwide by 2025. That will mean opening 30 international branches in Indonesia, the Maldives, Seychelles, Philippines, Egypt, Australia, Hawaii . . . and more in the islands of Tahiti. We’ll need hundreds of people planting corals every day. What’s beautiful is the people planting coral in our team are local fisherman, freedivers and surfers, so they’re really comfortable in the water, and then they learn from the scientists. They’re doing their ideal job, restoring the reef. It’s beautiful to watch as a coral gets bigger and there are fish and crabs in it—that’s why we started, and it’s what stimulates us to do more. Tomorrow we’re talking to 50 kids on our island. I want them to have the same feeling I had at 16; to fall in love with the corals and the ocean and want to help it.” And then there’s the awareness that is being spread by ambassadors such as Néry and other athletes and influencers who have been moved by the Coral Gardeners’ ambitions and appreciate the urgent need to highlight the issue. “Adopting a coral, especially for kids, is a very good way for them to understand how important it is to protect it,” says Néry. “Change has to happen locally first, and then, if many people act, it can grow into a huge wave. I see the Coral Gardeners as pioneers in this work. The more of us who are concerned about this, the bigger the change can be. That’s why I’m helping. “I used to be a very optimistic person, then I had a phase where I was very pessimistic, and today I think that I have —that we all have—to give as much positive energy as possible. We each have our own way to make an impact, then we’re connecting, trying to combine our actions and skills for the same cause. It’s only together that we can create hope.” coralgardeners.org THE RED BULLETIN 67
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The Red Bulletin April 2021 (US)

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