Reef Repair Diver Program

¿What´s the situation?

We have lost more than 40% of the global coral-reef system worldwide due to overfishing, coastal development, sedimentation, marine-based pollution, and climate change. This has resulted in the loss of valuable ecosystem services to the livelihoods of millions of people. Although marine protected areas (MPA) do work, this passive conservation strategy works at a slow pace and it alone cannot curb reef degradation by natural disturbances. Consequently, there is a demand for active reef restoration measures that can complement traditional conservation efforts if we are to ensure the preservation of the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide to humans.

The two-step “coral gardening” approach to active reef restoration is a promising alternative for accelerating reef recovery and building reef resilience. The first step entails generating a pool of colonies in underwater nurseries until they reach a threshold transplantation size. The second step is the transplantation of the nursery-grown colonies onto denuded reef areas. Although this and other active reef restoration approaches have proven effective, coral reef restoration is a long-term risky and demanding undertaking that requires sound science, preparation, commitment, and determination.

Corales de paz scaling up restoration background

+38 REEF REPAIR DIVERS TRAINED

5 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING WORKSHOPS

4 RESTORATION PROJECTS SUPPORTED

The Reef Repair Program to Aid Reef Restoration

Our Goals

The two goals of Reef Repair certification program are to:

Educate members of the public about conservation actions that are being implemented to restore coral reefs, their value, their effects and how the public can contribute to them.

Train non-scientists to learn how to apply best practices for active conservation of coral reefs that can achieve measurable results in improving the condition of this ecosystem.

The Reef Repair program, Corals de Paz signature trusted training program on coral gardening for effective coral reef restoration, was launched in March 2019 with the aim of strengthening the participation of non-scientists in coral reef restoration using a standard set of concepts and skills from best practices in coral gardening so that their participation is harnessed effectively within a coral reef restoration project, and using a simple method so that more people, particularly recreational divers, can get involved.

The Reef Repair Diver program allows everyone to enjoy more their reef visits. Reef Repair combines education with action to give participants a unique experience while taking an active role in the rehabilitation of coral reefs worldwide. The Reef Repair Diver program is also our strategy to scale up effectively international coral reef restoration by building capacity at the ground level. Our Reef Repair expeditions are the opportunities for recreational divers to contribute to coral gardening projects implemented worldwide for rehabilitating coral reefs, providing qualified skills for basic coral gardening tasks.

Corales de Paz signature Reef Repair Diver program is a continuing education program designed by Corales de Paz to learn current best practices in reef restoration and gain hands-on experience on coral gardening for coral reef conservation.

Following the guidelines of the Coral Restoration Consortium and showing commitment to science-based professional training in best practices for effective coral reef restoration, Corales de Paz offers Professional Training Workshops targeted at government, non-profit organization staff and dive professionals who would like to learn when and how to design a coral reef restoration program for an MPA or actively involve coral reef users in coral reef restoration, to monitor and report data collected, to use the information generated from project evaluation to make informed management decisions. For more information on our Professional Training Workshops click please contact us.

¿THINKING ON EMBARKING ON A CORAL REEF RESTORATION PROJECT?

We take coral reef restoration very seriously. Coral reef restoration is a long-term risky and demanding undertaking that requires sound science, preparation, commitment, and determination. Therefore, we have developed professional training workshops that provide an opportunity to understand current best practices in reef restoration and gain hands-on experience on effective coral reef restoration and other interventions for coral reef conservation. They include a solid foundation on restoration ecology, science-based strategies, and strong technical skills.

Reef Repair Diver Program

Progression

Discover Reef Repair Diver Vertical Coral gardening

¿Where do I start?

Well. If you are a beginner snorkeler or diver, enroll in our very own one-day Discover Reef Repair Diver program. If you are a certified diver and want to do more, enroll in a 3-day Reef Repair Diver certification course that qualifies you to help our teams to restore coral reefs worldwide. You can start today learning online the theory component of the course.

Start Today Your Training

¿Do you Want to Do More to Protect Coral Reefs?

Discover our Responsible Diving System and Meaningful Diving Universe which offers your the knowledge and skills for you to start leaving a legacy of responsible coral reef use today from the comfort of your home or office. ¿Not SCUBA certified? No worries. You can still do lots to protect coral reefs. Enroll in one of our online, snorkel programs and or take a SCUBA Diving course with one of the dive centers that work with us. Contact us for indications of our partner dive centers.

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