In the Karimunjawa archipelago, at the heart of the Java Sea, we are restoring coral reefs that shelter some of the greatest concentrations of marine life on the planet yet are today among the most threatened in the world.

The urgency is real. Overfishing, pollution and rising sea temperatures are silently degrading ecosystems that feed millions of people, protect coastlines and concentrate 76% of the world’s coral species. Indonesia is home to 18% of the world’s coral reefs and their disappearance is not an abstraction. It is a reality that local communities experience every day.

In close partnership with Trilogy Ocean Restoration, a local organisation deeply rooted in the Karimunjawa territory, we carry out community-based coral restoration: training local teams, involving fishermen and sharing best practices between marine science and field knowledge.

Together, we collect fragments from healthy colonies, plant them onto submerged structures, monitor their growth and share our learnings not only to revitalise degraded reefs, but also to build the foundations of a lasting relationship between communities and their ocean.

These reefs are more than underwater landscapes. They are a living heritage. An irreplaceable source of biodiversity. A foundation for local livelihoods. And a powerful reminder that protecting the ocean cannot stop at the boundaries of protected areas — it must take root in the daily lives of the men and women who depend on it.