Coral reefs are being hit hard by the climate crisis, and timely interventions for their survival are a top priority. The Global Coral Tech Transfer Project enables SECORE International and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to implement the latest scientifically developed coral breeding techniques on a large scale across regions. The practical implementation of the project is carried out jointly and in close cooperation with Dominican Republic-based partner FUNDEMAR, combining Australian technology, Caribbean coral breeding science, and in-depth experience in implementing restoration efforts successfully. The goal is to create a comprehensive inventory of efficient and complementary methods, tools, and technologies to boost reef resilience worldwide.
Coral reefs are in decline, and IPCC reports suggest that we don't have much time left to help them. We urgently need active interventions to support coral reefs, such as sustainable restoration that focuses on promoting genetic diversity like Coral Seeding. It involves breeding corals for restoration and using efficient methods and technologies that can be applied on a large scale.
Now, the two leading organizations in this field, SECORE, a science-based non-profit, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), a governmental institution, have partnered to combine their knowledge, expertise, and technological developments to create a restoration toolbox, adaptable to a variety of settings for practitioners worldwide.
„At SECORE we create and refine the methodologies and technologies for scaling coral restoration,“ says Aric Bickel, SECORE’s Senior Director of Training and Implementation. “Through this project, we are bringing together the largest Coral Seeding programs from the Pacific and the Caribbean: AIMS through the Pilot Deployment Project on the Great Barrier Reef and FUNDEMAR in the Dominican Republic. Combined with SECORE’s expertise in technology translation, applied ecological research and capacity building, we have assembled an all-star team that we believe will have a tremendous impact on the sustainable implementation of coral reef restoration. It feels a bit like assembling the Avengers of Coral Seeding to tackle the coral crisis; it is collaborations like these that give me hope and optimism that are so direly needed at the current moment.”
Senior Research Scientist and AIMS Project Lead, Dr. Carly Randall, explains: “The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system and, like all coral reefs across the globe, it is threatened by climate change. Over the last 5 years, AIMS has led the design of scalable and cost-effective methods for coral seeding. This was achieved through research programs such as the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program to help the reef resist, adapt to and recover from the impacts of climate change. Given the importance of coral reefs to billions of people globally, we are very interested in ensuring that this technology works across regions and with other species. This project enables us to translate and test the technology in new reef environments and combine it with methods developed by SECORE to broaden our collective coral restoration toolbox.”
Initial steps of the project include piloting the use of the Australian technologies with SECORE’s field teams and partner FUNDEMAR in the Dominican Republic. The first two years will focus on adapting the tools and evaluating which ones have the highest potential for lasting impact. In the third year, SECORE and its partners will implement the successful technologies at several locations within SECORE's Caribbean training and capacity-building network for Coral Seeding.
“FUNDEMAR is a marine conservation organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, with coral reefs as a core focus due to their critical decline across the Caribbean,” says Rita Sellares, FUNDEMAR’s Executive Director. “Since 2019, FUNDEMAR and SECORE have built a strong partnership to scale coral reef recovery through assisted sexual reproduction, combining FUNDEMAR’s scientific and operational capacity with SECORE’s innovative low-tech approach for coral breeding and restoration. The Global Coral Tech Transfer Project demonstrates how applied science, local expertise, and international innovation can work together to deliver tangible restoration outcomes.”
In August 2025, the kick-off workshop for the Global Coral Tech Transfer Project brought all three partners together at the FUNDEMAR facilities in Bayahibe. The joint team got their hands wet with practical groundwork by carrying out all the steps involved in coral breeding for restoration. Thereby, they began to explore how the protocols developed by AIMS could best be combined with those used in the Caribbean. In addition, they piloted the applicability of an advanced technology: AIMS's two-part coral seeding device.
When using corals bred for restoration, a crucial step is the settlement of coral larvae on substrates that can later be easily transferred to the reef. Such a substrate is AIMS's two-part seeding device, an advancement of the original Seeding Units that SECORE invented more than a decade ago. Its design is engineered for easy handling en masse via separation of settlement and outplant components. Coral larvae are settled on small concrete tabs; three of these tabs can be placed into a triangular device, which can then be handled in bulk for outplanting. This system may dramatically increases the scale of seeding corals.
“This March, 2026, the AIMS and SECORE teams are meeting with FUNDEMAR in Bayahibe to transfer use of additional AIMS technology”, explains Alexandra Gutting, SECORE’s Lead Scientist for the project. “ReefSeed is a containerised system designed to maximize coral fertilization success and larvae production, while reducing labor costs at the same time. The three partner groups will work together to incorporate components of the ReefSeed system into FUNDEMAR's new aquaculture facility, and will compare larvae production and efficiency using ReefSeed technologies to those achieved using more traditional fertilization and rearing methods. FUNDEMAR will also pilot the use of AIMS's two-part seeding devices in the field this year to test their efficacy in a Caribbean context.”
“This project has the potential to significantly accelerate coral reef restoration across the Caribbean by making assisted sexual reproduction, i.e. Coral Seeding, more accessible, efficient, and replicable in the region,” emphasizes Sellares. “By adapting and testing methods under local conditions, we are reducing technical barriers, shortening learning curves, and strengthening regional capacity. Crucially, the project underscores the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange among institutions as a foundation for scaling impact. For FUNDEMAR, this work reinforces our role in facilitating the exchange of information, practical experience, and applied methodologies, enabling new approaches to be tested, refined, and shared with partners throughout the Caribbean. Ultimately, this collaboration-driven approach will support faster scaling of restoration efforts and more resilient reefs in the face of climate change and disease.”
All partners of the Global Coral Tech Transfer project will work together to share these advanced restoration technologies with practitioners throughout the Caribbean and beyond. Future plans encompass making this restoration toolbox available in other regions. In order to continue expanding and streamlining the development of new methods and technologies for successful restoration in a targeted and complementary manner, AIMS and SECORE are establishing a joint research program.
Dr. Randall adds: “AIMS and SECORE have been long-time collaborators in the field of Coral Seeding. Our methods are complementary, and working together through this project will allow us to jointly build a toolbox of Coral Seeding methods and galvanize around a best-practice approach that takes into account local priorities and needs. Leveraging our joint experiences, knowledge and expertise will also help us fast-track the research required to continue developing science-backed solutions for large-scale coral restoration.”
By combining their strengths, SECORE, AIMS, and FUNDEMAR demonstrate that synergies are possible across a broad spectrum of working fields thus showcasing how entities with different focuses, goals, and geographic locations can join forces and work toward a common goal: giving coral reefs a future.
“Through the Global Coral Tech Transfer Project, we take an important step to utilize our international partnerships to significantly expand the restoration toolbox that we provide to coastal communities,” says Dr. Dirk Petersen, SECORE’s Founder and Executive Director. “We urgently need more global collaboration to tackle the coral reef crisis in the Caribbean and prepare other regions for worsening climate scenarios.”
The realization of the Global Coral Tech Transfer Project is funded by Builders Vision, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and Vere Initiatives.
The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Press contact
SECORE International, Dr. Carin Jantzen, c.jantzen@secore.org, www.secore.org
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Jo Manning, jo.manning@aims.gov.au, www.aims.gov.au
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