Working with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to save corals in the South Pacific

April 10, 2024

Written by Alexandra Dempsey

Earlier this year the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) entered into a formal partnership to help save corals in the South Pacific region. Founded in 1999, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation focuses on funding scientific research, implementing conservation initiatives, and raising public awareness about the importance of the reef and the threats it faces. Its work covers a wide range of areas, including coral reef monitoring, coral restoration, water quality improvement, sustainable fishing practices, and climate change resilience.

Both KSLOF and GBRF are active participants in the United Nations Ocean Decade, with two endorsed projects focusing on low-cost tools and solutions for coral reef conservation and restoration. Using a co-design approach both foundations will be working together towards community engagement to build capacity for sustained conservation efforts. KSLOF’s Science Without Borders®: Conserving the Tropics project is aimed at improving the monitoring and management of coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests. The first pilot study was conducted in Beqa Lagoon, Fiji. GBRF’s Resilient Reefs Initiative (RRI) focuses on partnering coral reef dependent communities to respond to climate change local threats. To date the RRI project has launched in Palau, Ningaloo Coast, and New Caledonia. Both projects are quite complementary and the synergies between KSLOF and GBRF are strong.

KSLOF and GBRF sit on the United Nations Ocean Decade working group in the South Pacific and partnered a session on coral reef managements at the Pacific Islands Conference on Science and Ocean Management (PICOSOM, September 2023).

KSLOF and GBRF have identified the South Pacific region as a key area of focus and one in which a collaborative approach and information sharing would be beneficial. We very much look forward to this new partnership and future joint conservation efforts to protect coral reefs while elevating the voices of communities who depend on them.

2025-2026 B.A.M. Student Voices

Throughout the Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) and Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) programs, we evaluate each phase of the mangrove education and restoration process to better understand how students are learning, growing, and connecting with their coastal environments.

Before the programs begin, students share what they already know about mangroves and how they feel about them. As the program progresses, we continue to gather feedback to see how their knowledge evolves from identifying mangrove species and understanding food webs to recognizing the role mangroves play in coastal protection and climate change mitigation.

But the surveys go beyond science content.

We also ask students…

Ten Years of B.A.M.: Rooted in Partnership, Growing in Purpose

Ten years ago, the Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) program began with a simple but meaningful commitment: to connect Bahamian students with the mangrove ecosystems that shape and protect their island home.

Since 2015, B.A.M. has been implemented in partnership with Friends of the Environment, whose dedication to environmental stewardship in Abaco has made this program possible year after year. Together, we have worked alongside Patrick J. Bethel High School and Forest Heights Academy to bring hands-on mangrove science into classrooms and out into the field.

What makes ten years remarkable is not just longevity — it is consistency…

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