Why do we need coral reefs?
Without significant human action, corals could disappear from the planet by 2050.
Beyond their undeniable beauty, coral reefs play a key role in our ecosystem and more specifically in
the underwater world:
🐠 They provide food for many fish… and the people who eat them!
1 km 2 of coral reef can generate between 5 and 15 tonnes of fish and crustaceans.
🌊 They help reduce the power of waves to protect coastlines from erosion.
Representing 0.2% of the ocean's surface, reefs protect no less than 150000 km of coastline
worldwide.
🐟A breeding and nursery ground for many species. More than one in four species lives in coral reefs
Yet since 2009, 20% of coral reefs disappeared due to massive bleaching episodes linked to global
warming – that's a surface area of 11,700 km completely destroyed! These corals are also threatened
by overfishing and human activities.
context
Coral reefs are home to over 25% of all marine life making them one of the most diverse ecosystem on Earth.
Since 2009, 20% of the corals, representing nearly 11,700 km2, have died due to bleaching events caused by climate change. According to IPCC reports, coral reefs would decline by 70-90% due to global warming of 1,5°C whereas 99% would be lost with 2°C.
Corals extinctions would lead to catastrophic consequences from an environmental, economic and social aspect.
If we do nothing, in less than 30 years, 90% of the coral will have disappeared.
What is the aim of The Coral Planters association?
According to IPCC report, a rise of 1.5°C would lead to the disappearance of 70 to 90% of corals. With
the urgency of the situation, our association is working to restore coral reefs by combining its actions
with the use of innovative technologies.
We create artificial reefs to maintain and preserve marine biodiversity. In addition to our rapid and
effective actions, we collaborate with scientists, engineers and experts to develop our restoration
techniques and gather as much information as possible.
We strive to improve and refine our methodology every day, while raising public awareness of the
importance of coral reefs.
Our association's missions to preserve marine biodiversity and coral reefs
Coral restoration
In the field for over 20 years, our team succeeded in developing effective transplantation techniques
to restore coral reefs. This restoration is based on an established process, consisting of several
stages:
- Manufacture of the structures . These are made of metal and coated with a mixture of sand and
natural resin. This mixture acts as a substrate, facilitating and accelerating the anchoring and
development of the corals.
- Cutting and transplanting. After opportunistic or active harvesting of fragments, the coral is placed
on metal frames.
- Maintenance. We regularly check the plants for any algae that might be covering them, and get rid
of any undesirables that might be harming the corals. If The Coral Planters team observes bleaching,
the frames are moved.
- Daily monitoring. Our monitoring is carried out on a daily basis, and from time to time we take
photographs which are analyzed by artificial intelligence software.
Reef monitoring
We rigorously monitor the growth and health of our corals. We also provide free access to all photos
and updates online. Our artificial intelligence monitoring software analyzes data and helps optimize
the growth of our coral.
We carry out more in-depth analyses on a regular basis: species analysis, survival rates. We also want
to play our part in optimizing and standardizing the automatic collection of scientific data... Because
we believe this is essential to preserving the world's biodiversity!
Scientific innovation
Behind The Coral Planters are passionate citizens with scientific backgrounds in marine biology,
marine engineering and remote sensing. We are working on a number of innovative projects, both
for science and for society:
- Coral'IA, a monitoring and optimization tool that will track coral growth on artificial reefs using
artificial intelligence.
- Coral'Bot, an autonomous boat equipped with sensors to collect data and implement it in the
Coral'IA software.
- Edu'Coral, to raise public awareness of the importance of reefs and ocean protection.
Raising public awareness
We speak at schools and events, and take every opportunity to raise awareness amongst the general
public - and future generations - of the need to protect our marine biodiversity and the importance
of coral reefs.
We take every opportunity to meet the public and share our ecological, responsible and innovative
project: association events, waste collections and much more.
Why does The Coral Planters need you?
Our association is looking for motivated people to adopt a coral reef. From €10, you can contribute
to our action and have an impact on the restoration of coral. Don’t forget: every coral planted is a
gesture for the planet!
We are constantly looking for human resources to extend and have an even more useful approach for
our environment. We also need to increase our material and financial resources to develop our IT
tools, retrieve more data and structure it in the best possible way.
Today, our coral monitoring software has its limits:
– Image processing possible on a single type of artificial reef
– A limited photographic and environmental database
We need your help to accelerate the restoration of coral reefs and to take another step towards
sharing data and information within the global scientific community.
Preserve and protect our Ocean,
Together, let’s plant corals !
