CORAL RESTORATION FOUNDATION INC

Coral Restoration Foundation believes that large-scale, massive action is required to save the world's coral reefs.

More than 50% of the world's coral reefs have been lost since the 1990s. On Florida's Coral Reef, coral coverage is below 2% in many places. Without action, we could lose all shallow-water coral reefs by 2100. CRF is perfecting techniques for actively restoring coral reefs on an ecologically significant scale. We are safeguarding and promoting genetic diversity in coral populations around the world. Our evolving methods and high-tech tools are accesible to the international restoration community. We are working to advance ecosystem restoration, science, and collaboration in the field. We are engaging the public in the mission and inspiring change.

Restoration:
Over the last decade, CRF has developed the techniques and infrastructure to execute large-scale restoration: support staffing, volunteer and community engagement, nursery design and management, and novel outplanting techniques and subsequent monitoring.

Our in-situ coral nurseries are the world's largest, capable of producing over 50,000 reef-ready corals each year. We maintain four in-water production coral nurseries throughout the Keys, and several special-use nurseries, including one off Fort Lauderdale, managed through a collaboration with Nova Southeastern University. The species and genotypes we move into production are carefully selected to ensure we are restoring both diversity and functionality to the wild.

Science:
Our Science Program focuses on the research, development, and deployment of technology-based solutions to increase efficiencies in all aspects of our work. This includes our Coral Sample Registry and CeruleanAI. By focusing on these solutions and the ways in which they can help new and underserved restoration organizations around the world, the Science Program hopes to democratize the coral restoration space, providing access to best practices and technologies regardless of location or means.

Education:
At CRF, we provide practical, meaningful ways for everyone to learn about and get actively involved with our mission to bring coral reefs back from the brink of extinction. Our goal is to educate, entertain, and empower - to inspire the world to become stewards of our planet's life support systems.

With over a decade of experience in large-scale reef restoration, Coral Restoration Foundation has a proven track record for impactful restoration efforts. We operate 8 offshore coral nurseries throughout the Florida Keys, including 4 principle production nurseries. These nurseries house corals from 23 unique species and over 660 different genotypes. Our largest nursery has more than 500 coral trees and covers 1.5 square acres of the ocean floor.

Since 2012, CRF has returned more than 240,000 endangered corals to our targeted restoration sites from Key Largo to Key West, restoring more than more than 39,673m2 of Florida’s Coral Reef. This work is carried out by a small team of staff, interns, and countless volunteers.

In Florida, CRF is an integral collaborator in the planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of large-scale projects such as Mission: Iconic Reefs; a restoration partner with MOTE, TNC, Nova Southeastern University, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and FWC; and a sub-awardee for various restoration and research activities. CRF supports 10+ academic collaborations annually, furthering research in the fields of coral biology and reef restoration. Internationally, CRF is involved in the design and planning of large-scale restoration in Saudi Arabia; has advised groups in Hawaii, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Mexico; has supported the development of restoration efforts in Cuba, Australia, and the Philippines; has helped establish programs in Bonaire, Curaçao, Mustique, and Jamaica; and has trained restoration staff from Mexico, Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

In support of the larger international coral restoration community, CRF co-founded, co-leads, and provides administrative infrastructure to the Coral Restoration Consortium (CRC); developed and supports the Coral Sample Registry and the web-based photomosaic pipeline, Cerulean AI; and has staff members serving on working committees and boards for the CRC, Society for Ecological Restoration, FKNMS Water Quality Protection Program, and the UN CORDAP initiative. Additionally, CRF's leadership team includes internationally recognized leaders in science and coral restoration through the publication of peer-reviewed papers, serving on journal editorial boards, participating in regional management working groups, and sitting on international boards for research and implementation of tropical coral reef restoration.

With more than 16 years of experience in restoring coral reefs, CRF is proving that we have the capacity to do this work at an ever-increasing scale. In the wake of our record-breaking restoration efforts in 2022, CRF continued its steadfast commitment to actively restoring the reefs of the Florida Keys in 2023: between January 1st and June 28th, we successfully returned 20,559 corals to the reefs of the Florida Keys. This brings our total number of corals returned to the wild to 243,875.

CRF is unwavering in its mission to restore reefs in Florida, the Caribbean, and around the world. Aware of the escalating frequency and severity of large-scale disturbance events, risk management, mitigation, and adaptation are built into the heart of our programs. Because of that, CRF was able to respond to the heatwave quickly, evacuating high risk coral genotypes to safety and safeguarding the irreplaceable genetic diversity of Florida's corals. If last year taught us anything, it is that it is critical to have replicate sets of our coral stock and genetics protected from future bleaching events or disease outbreaks. We have maintained a second in-situ nursery off Broward County for several years now and we are investing in a second ex-situ nursery located in West Palm Beach.

CRF is now actively supporting the US Virgin Island's coral restoration plan, working on the ground with a CRF Satellite Program in St. Croix and a CRF Global Partnership in St. Thomas. And in partnership with local organizations, CRF is helping expand in-situ nursery coral production, supporting training initiatives, and promoting genetic sequencing projects to contribute to advancing coral restoration efforts in Puerto Rico.