Bonaire sits just off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean Netherlands. Bonaire is famous for scuba diving; in fact, it is commonly referred to as the shore diving capital of the world. The reefs are abundant and colorful, and it has become one of my favorite places to dive. There is also something unique on this island that I was interested in learning more about, coral restoration. Reef Renewal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works to restore coral reefs by growing and outplanting coral. I signed up to complete the reef renewal certification which allows me to volunteer to assist with this work. The course was very thorough and covered everything from the history of coral restoration to the science behind it, to the techniques and tools used in the process. It included 3 dives to get hands on and put what we learned into practice. Check out their website below for more information. 

Climate change is impacting coral reefs all around the world. In Bonaire, coral reefs are declining due to five major impacts: hurricanes, bleaching, disease, pollution, and loss of sea urchin populations. The Bonaire community wanted to take action to prevent further decline and sought out a man named ​Ken Nedimyer to understand if the coral restoration being done in Florida could also work in Bonaire. Ken started the first ever coral restoration project in the Florida Keys and has had successful results. The Bonaire community was able to convince the government to approve a coral restoration program on the island which is led by Francesca Virdis. 
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There are two distinct ways to assist with reef recovery. The first is coral fragmentation. This when a small piece of coral can be cut off from a larger coral and it will grow anew. The second is larval rearing in which larvae is captured during spawning events and fertilized in the lab. In either case, small coral fragments are placed in special coral nurseries, designed to allow the coral to grow under supervision and protection. 'Trees' are used to hang coral fragments in the water column to grow. 

On our first dive, we spent time familiarizing ourselves with and cleaning one of the nurseries. Alge can grow rapidly across the arms and down the lines onto the coral,  causing harm and stress. Volunteers go out often to clean the trees using simply tools such as a wired brush to scrub off the alge. The divers scrub each arm and each line, taking care not to touch the coral as much as possible. You will notice that no gloves are used, unless necessary. One of those necessary occasions is when fire coral has grown on the trees. Then gloves are used for protection and a small chisel is used to scrap it off. 

The second dive was spent doing additional cleaning and hanging new coral fragments from the trees. We took a handful of small coral fragments and secured them to lines. Those where then hung one by one on the trees leaving enough space for the coral fragments to grow.

On our third dive our instructor cut off coral pieces from the trees that had grown large enough and were ready for outplanting. We collected the coral and made our way over to the outplanting site where bars had been secured to the ground. We attached the coral fragments to the bars using zip ties, taking care to find the most supportive position and minimally handling the coral. The coral will eventually grow enough to fill in with the reef behind it. ​

Eventually the bars will no longer be seen underneath the coral growth. A healthy reef will form in its place supporting additional life and a chance for the furture. 

The success of Bonaire's coral restoration program is evident as you dive all over the island. There are now 19 restoration sites and have outplanted 50,000 corals. My favorite anecdote from the many stories I heard was when a storm seemed to destroy a newer restoration site. For a time, it felt like a defeat, seeing the coral pieces scattered, but then they noticed that the reef did what it was supposed to do; grew back. The toppled reef found new footing and eventually grew into a strong and healthy reef, turning a moment of defeat into a resounding success story. The corals they are growing proved resilient enough to adapt and recover from environmental changes proving there is hope that we can help coral reefs make a comeback. 

If you would like to get involved you can donate, adopt a coral, or volunteer with Reef Renewal Foundation. 

Check out the video below to see more of the process in action.