SURREY ROCKS - DECEMBER 2021

FEATURES
REVIVE OUR OCEANS – Bahamas,
Coral Vita
Ocean warming and acidification are set to destroy over 90%
of reefs by 2050, a death sentence for the quarter of marine life
who need them to survive. It will be a disaster, too, for the billion
human lives dependent on the benefits reefs provide.
A year after Sam Teicher and Gator Halpern launched Coral
Vita’s first facility in Grand Bahama, Hurricane Dorian destroyed
their coral farm. The experience brought home the extent of the
climate emergency and strengthened their resolve to protect our
reefs.
Coral Vita, which grows coral on land to replant in oceans,
gives new life to dying ecosystems. Its methods grow coral up to
50 times faster than traditional methods and improves resilience
to the impact of climate change.
As well as restoring reefs, Teicher and Halpern work with local
communities, public officials, and private companies to improve
education, create new job prospects, and build a model to inject
more funding into environmental protection. Coral Vita gives
new life not just to the ocean but to coastal economies as well.
With Coral Vita’s methods, a single farm could potentially supply coral for an entire nation, and they ultimately envision a network
of such farms in every nation with reefs, kickstarting a restoration economy to preserve the ecosystems that sustain us all. Winning
the prize will help them make that vision a reality.
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SURREYROCKS | ISSUE 04