Emergency Response to Mass Coral Bleaching

Why Did We Build Bula Reef?

In September 2023, after the Caribbean suffered extreme heat and shallow waters as hot as 38.4C, we were warned that this coral bleaching was coming to Fiji.  We were worried about the heat-adapted coral populations that live in very shallow waters would get too hot for their survival.  So, starting last September, over a thousand corals were collected from the hottest reefs and moved to cooler waters to build Bula Nursery.  Sadly, the corals left behind mostly died when the water got above 35C (>95F), but the corals moved to the nursery did not bleach, and they still survive!   Bula means Life, and Bula Rescue Nursery has helped us keep life in the ocean and on our coral reefs!  We hope that these efforts will now be used as an example to other areas of the world which still have hot pocket coral populations. 

Bula Reef is Part of a Much Bigger, "Reefs of Hope" Solution!

UNESCO just in February endorsed C4C’s “Reefs of Hope” strategies as an Ocean Decade Action, implemented to help coral reefs adapt to climate change by securing and preventing the loss of heat-adapted corals on coral reefs. 

https://oceandecade.org/actions/reefs-of-hope/  Bula reef is the first project of this strategy!   

"Reefs of Hope" builds on a foundation of local action in the South Pacific and supports the resilience of community-based no-fishing tabu areas in the face of climate change.  Communities sacrificing for the environment are supported with livelihoods development and capacity building in coral-focused work, to enhance their locally managed areas by planting bleaching resistant corals.  Resorts are encouraged to support the program by hiring trained coral reef adaptation technicians to serve as coral gardeners at resorts, as well as to support community resort partnerships for conservation.  

Corals for Conservation’s primary partner in the Fiji coral-focused work is Plantation Island Resort, assisted by the Fiji Ministry of Fisheries, and funded by crowd-sourced donations through GlobalGiving, and small grants received from UNEP, and the European Union.  The community-tourism-NGO- Government partnership has been instrumental in making new and innovative advancements to prevent the collapse of coral reefs locally, and C4C has recently expanded the work to Kiribati, Tuvalu, Samoa, PNG, and Vanuatu via local partners in each country. 

The work has now been honoured and elevated as the first coral-focused solution for climate change adaptation of coral reefs by the UNESCO endorsement. 

With the building of Bula Nursery, we are calling on everyone to do their best to become part of the solution!  We believe that if people are the problem, that people are also the solution!  

Thank you for bringing our coral rescue effort to the world stage, and for your constant support.  Austin