We’ve made significant progress advancing methods to restore reefs damaged by the impacts of climate change, but coral reefs remain one of the most vulnerable ecosystem on the planet. The Great Barrier Reef can recover, but she needs your support.
When she hurts, we hurt. You can help the Reef and build her resilience to the challenges of a warming planet.
April 2024 Great Barrier Reef: Bleached Coral
Credit: AIMS, Veronique Mocellin.
You can help restore and protect the Reef.
Donate to plant a coral today.
Plant a coral and put time on our side.
To protect the Great Barrier Reef today, we must repair the damage that’s already been done to it due to climate change and other threats. We must also explore and develop new ways to build its resilience to the challenges of tomorrow.
With the support of donors like you, we are already restoring important areas of the Reef by planting coral fragments, as well as through Coral IVF – we call these Corals for Today.
We’re also developing a ‘Reef Restoration Toolkit’ that delivers an increase in coral planting, as well as coral that can withstand warmer water – these are our Corals for Tomorrow.
Why plant corals?
It’s easy to think of the Great Barrier Reef as a timeless wonder, but the sad reality is that the Reef is on borrowed time due to climate change. Coral planting helps buy our Reef time while the world works to reduce emissions.
Why are coral reefs important?
Our planet needs healthy oceans to survive, and healthy oceans need healthy coral reefs. Our oceans provide 50% of the world’s oxygen, and their coral reefs support 25% of all marine life, including fish, dolphins, whales, and marine turtles. Meanwhile, coastal blue carbon ecosystems store carbon dioxide up to 50 times more efficiently than terrestrial forests.
Corals for Today:
You can help us restore areas of the Reef that have been damaged by bleaching through programs such as coral fragment planting and our innovative Coral IVF program.
During the annual coral spawning event, our Coral IVF researchers capture excess coral eggs and sperm from healthy reefs and rear millions of baby corals in specially designed floating pools. When they’re ready, these young corals are placed onto damaged reefs to restore and repopulate them.
Corals for Tomorrow:
You can help build long-term resilience in the Reef. Your donations will help accelerate the research and deployment of corals with increased thermal tolerance.
Coral IVF leads to a remarkable transformation on the Reef.
Distinguished Professor Peter Harrison is a coral ecologist and leads the coral larval restoration team at Southern Cross University. In 2016, thanks to funding from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Professor Harrison began trialling a world-leading Coral IVF technique on the Great Barrier Reef.
Coral spawn was collected from healthy reefs and raised in tanks before being delivered onto damaged areas around Heron Island. Since then, more than 60 large coral colonies have survived a bleaching event, grown to maturity, and started reproducing to produce new baby corals. This is the first time a breeding population has ever been established on the Great Barrier Reef using Coral IVF.
“This is a thrilling result,” says Professor Harrison. “The larvae generated from these restored corals have dispersed within the Heron Island lagoon and may settle on patches of reef nearby, helping to further restore reef patches that have been impacted by climate change.”
Below is one coral from our first batch of Coral IVF babies, which we grew from microscopic larvae and planted on the Reef in 2016. Credit: Southern Cross University
Your gift will not only help with this incredible project, but it will also help in many other ways. We work across a number of projects for the Reef, and your kindness makes it possible for us to support them all.
Other ways to donate
Call Us
Please call 1800 427 300 to donate or for assistance
Direct Deposit
Email us at giving@barrierreef.org to receive the details to donate directly to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation Public Fund
Please send your donation cheque to: Great Barrier Reef Foundation, GPO Box 1362, Brisbane QLD 4001
