Conservation Spotlight: Coral Restoration Foundation Curaçao

MISSION: “To restore shallow water coral reef systems and educate the public on the importance of the oceans”
HQ: Willemstad, Curaçao
YEAR STARTED: 2015
CONNECT: Instagram | Facebook
PROJECT: A reef conservation effort founded in the Florida Keys in 2007, Coral Restoration Foundation has expanded with two separate operations in the Caribbean since then, on the Dutch islands of Curaçao and Bonaire.

“CRF Bonaire and CRF Curaçao were originally started by our founder, so they use the same methodologies and the same technologies, explains Alice Grainger, communications director at Coral Restoration Foundation in Key Largo. “We share a name and we share a history.”

Each operation is a separate entity that shares a name and common goal: growing and outplanting corals to local reefs.

“When we were first introduced to CRF in 2014, what amazed me was that this is something that really works,” says Jeremiah Peek, managing director of Ocean Encounters dive shop, the flagship nursery site of CRF Curaçao. “The reefs were coming back, and once that happened, the fish did too! Now that our program is in the beginning of its fifth year, it’s amazing to see the results.”

In Curaçao, two types of corals are grown: elkhorn and staghorn. Both varieties are critical to reef health in the Caribbean and are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, so they’re in need of steady population protection and recovery.

Both CRF and CRF Curaçao use the same method of fragmenting and growing corals. They collect pieces of coral that have naturally broken off from the reef and hang them on “Coral Trees,” which are branching PVC structures that can grow up to 100 coral fragments. Each tree is tethered to the seafloor and has a surface buoy to keep it stable yet flexible enough to move with currents and storm surges.

After the coral fragments have grown sizeably, they are outplanted onto existing reefs. In the Florida Keys operation, CRF uses a method of attaching corals directly to the reef using a two-part marine epoxy. However, CRF Curaçao has found that increased sediment on their reefs can sometimes hinder the epoxy process, so they’re still experimenting with the best methods of outplanting. They’ve found the most success so far in attaching clusters of corals to rebar structures that can grow to form new, independent coral colonies.

Using this and other methods, they’ve seen a drastic improvement in marine life.

“The proudest moments are when the return customers who have been coming here for many years talk about the transformation of our reefs,” Peek says. “They are so enthusiastic, all they want to do is help and get involved because the results are right in front of their very eyes.”

After the establishment of Ocean Encounters’ nursery, other resorts and dive shops on the island became interested in having their own nurseries, each wanting to contribute positively to the health of Curaçao’s waters. Today, restoration efforts are happening at five different sites around the island, with programs in place to involve the local community.

“One of the cool things we’re doing is working with the local schools,” Peek says. “We’ve already certified over 100 kids as Open Water divers, and more than 50 as Coral Restoration Divers.”

To date, CRF Curaçao has outplanted more than 6,000 corals — and they have an additional 3,250 currently growing. This number may be small compared to the over 90,000 corals that have been outplanted in Florida, but having only been around for a few years, it’s safe to say the Curaçao operation is well on its way to restoring local reefs at a similar scale.

“We’re super proud to share the name with this organization,” Grainger says. “It’s wonderful that there are Coral Restoration Foundations in other places, and we hope that in the future, there will be more.”

GET INVOLVED

1. Volunteer Next time you’re visiting the island of Curaçao (or any Coral Restoration Foundation site), stop by to play your part in protecting its reefs.

“There’s the PADI Coral Restoration Diver course that we can give, and we also do guided nursery tours to give people a taste of the project,” Peek says. “It’s on our house reef, so almost everybody — whether doing a Discover Scuba Diving, Open Water course, or even just a shore dive — is able to see it firsthand.”

Ecotourism projects can add a lot of value to a typical vacation. You get to learn more about the area’s reefs and spend time restoring them, leaving the place better than you found it.

“The benefit to working with CRF, whether it’s in Florida or with CRF Curaçao, is knowing you are doing something to ensure that your children and grandchildren are going to have coral reefs to experience and visit,” Grainger says.

2. Adopt a Coral or Branch
Through CRF Curaçao’s Adopt A Coral program, participants can sponsor or gift someone their very own corals. The adoption supports the coral throughout the restoration process, from fragmenting to maintaining the fragment’s growth in the nursery to its outplanting on the reef and monitoring thereafter.

Four donation tiers allow for the adoption of an individual coral, a tree branch with five corals, a whole tree, or a cluster of coral that’s being outplanted. Depending on the level of your adoption, you’ll receive a thank-you letter and certificate of adoption, photos of your coral growing and/or being outplanted, and an underwater tag that IDs your coral.

Note: The Adopt A Coral program is unique to CRF Curaçao; it has not been implemented in Florida or Bonaire.

3. Donate All of Coral Restoration Foundation’s entities are ever-growing nonprofits, meaning they rely on donations, grants and sponsorships to keep up operations.

“People donating money is critical to letting us put more corals back onto the reef,” Grainger says.

By donating, you are directly supporting the restoration process and securing a future for these reefs.

To donate to CRF Curaçao, please visit coralrestorationcuracao.org. (Donations made through the Coral Restoration Foundation Florida site will not go to CRF Curaçao.)