MO’OREA, French Polynesia. Titouan Bernicot was 16 when he had an epiphany: Everything he loved about living on an island in the South Pacific was tied to coral reefs.
Bernicot, 23, started Coral Gardeners in April 2017 from his bedroom. Now, he and his team are setting their sights on an audacious goal: to replant 1 million corals across the world by 2025. If they have any hope of hitting that number, they’ll have to dramatically increase their planting, an effort that is being aided by a new artificial intelligence system.
“Our goals for the next couple of years are to become the largest and most advanced coral restoration program on the planet,” he said in an interview outside his office on the island.
The Coral Gardeners team restores damaged reef areas that have suffered from rising temperatures or other natural and human disturbances. There are currently three active nursery sites in French Polynesia, which have close to 9,000 corals growing. The first restored reef is in the back garden of Bernicot’s home, in Maharepa.According to Coral Gardeners’ data, 500 million people around the world directly rely on reefs for food, income, coastal protection, and more.
The group uses various restoration techniques, and they focus efforts on super corals to create more resilient reefs. Super corals are a resistant species that can survive in extreme water temperatures. The group identifies super corals in the lagoon, cuts or trims a small portion of them, and places them in the nurseries on ropes, tables, or trees. There, they are monitored for at least a year. Once they’re large enough, the grown fragments are trimmed and planted onto damaged areas of the reef, where they continue growing, making the reef more resilient as the corals go on to spawn.The ReefOS AI model, which is currently in Maharepa and Cook’s Bay, will be deployed at every restored reef site around the world as the organization expands. “We want to become the most advanced reef restoration around the world in terms of technology . . . and also be able to share everything that we learned and the data we collected in an open-source and collaborative way,” says Karine Toumazeau, strategist for Coral Gardeners.
The organization is on track to replant about 15,000 corals in 2022, and while this is the equivalent to what they’ve transplanted in the past four years combined, it’s still a far cry from their goal of 1 million.
Social media has been a real boon for fundraising. With more than half a million followers on Instagram, Coral Gardeners is the most followed account in all of French Polynesia, Bernicot notes–something he takes pride in. This following has helped drive growth, as celebrities like Paris Hilton have publicly given gifts of coral. (She gave it in honor of Britney Spears’ birthday.)
Still, one of the ideas behind Coral Gardeners is to create opportunities for local islanders. A childhood friend of Bernicot’s and the friend’s brother were among the first on the payroll of the more than 20 staff members.
“I don’t want ocean conservation to be a part-time job,” Bernicot said. “I want people that love the ocean to be able to make a career saving their playgrounds.”
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.