This on-going project funded by two consecutive grants (2021-2023; 2023-2027) from the CBF’s EbA Facility will expand and replicate our successful models of community-based coral restoration in Saint Lucia and in St Vincent and the Grenadines. The project will be implemented jointly by CLEAR, SusGren and the Richmond Vale Academy and We Are Mayreau Inc . Together this consortium is working with local stakeholders to build awareness, knowledge and capacity for community-based coral restoration. Existing restoration projects will be scaled-up, and new nurseries and restoration sites established on the main island of St Vincent and on Union. It will use proven restoration techniques to propagate and outplant coral fragments at scale. Guided by geneticists, it will also ensure that outplanted corals have high genetic diversity in order to promote sexual reproduction and the dispersal of fertile eggs on surrounding reefs. The project will increase coral cover at the restoration sites in the medium-term, and will also assist genetic adaptation processes on larger temporal and spatial scales by encouraging genetic diversity. A sustainable financing mechanism will be expanded and adapted to ensure that coral restoration continues as a community-based activity beyond the life of the project. See video from 2023.
