Hope for Coral Reefs in 2020
Despite the chaos of 2020, we have continued our vital work saving the world’s coral reefs. This year has challenged all of us—corals and humans—to adjust to a new normal. Here are a few stories about how we’ve adapted, which we couldn’t have done without your support. Thank you!
900 Native Plants for Coral Reefs
On Maui, we enabled 10-year-old Abby Rogers to grow 900 native plants in her backyard to help us prevent sediment from entering the ocean and smothering coral reefs. When COVID-19 hit, 10-year-old Abby Rogers was looking for a way to help protect the environment. As a newly certified SCUBA diver, the Maui resident could now… Continue Reading →
The Women Behind the Scenes
Our three community scientists in Honduras brought improved fishing practices to the Mesoamerican Reef by building important relationships with fishers. Paola Urrutia, Greissi Lizeth Villatoro, and Ana Bessy Valdez spend their days building relationships with fishers. As our community scientists in Honduras, they travel every morning to popular fisher landing points and meet with the… Continue Reading →
Research Shows the Importance of Hot Reefs
New results from our pioneering research show that protecting reefs that thrive in warmer waters may be key to helping evolution rescue reefs from the effects of climate change. For the last several years, we’ve been leading research funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and other funders to understand how we can best… Continue Reading →
Resilience in Honduras
When COVID-19 hit, the Roatán Marine Park lost 85% of its revenue. But through CORAL’s partnership, they were able to prioritize patrols and continue protecting their coral reefs. Like many businesses and organizations in Honduras’ Bay Islands, the Roatán Marine Park (RMP) is almost entirely reliant upon tourism—85% of its operating budget is tied to… Continue Reading →
Clean Water in Hawai‘i
We created a network of partners on Hawai‘i Island to launch a robust, volunteer-based water quality testing program and began monitoring sites around the island. In 2018, CORAL began building a local group on Hawai‘i Island to monitor water quality. Since then, Hawai‘i Wai Ola has grown to consist of eleven different organizations, volunteer community… Continue Reading →
Sustainable Tourism in México
Together with our partners, we trained nearly 130 tourism operators on best practices for coral reef conservation throughout México, Belize and Honduras this year. Each year, about 22 million people visit Quintana Roo, México. The Caribbean coastline offers beautiful clear blue waters, white sand beaches, and easy access to the second-largest reef system in the… Continue Reading →
Solar Powered in Roatán
We helped the Polo’s Water Association secure funding to install solar panels on their wastewater treatment plant, reducing their energy consumption by about 80% each month. The Polo’s Water Association’s wastewater treatment plant in Roatán, Honduras is responsible for keeping nearly 30 million gallons of raw sewage out of West End’s coastal environment each year—sewage… Continue Reading →
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Our work to ensure healthy reefs and resilient communities couldn’t happen without your support.