Beneath Curaçao’s turquoise waters, Reef Renewal is restoring the Caribbean’s coral reefs. Using coral tree nurseries, they grow and propagate fragments of staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn (Acropora palmata) corals before transplanting them to damaged reef sites.

These branching corals once formed continuous coverage across Caribbean reefs but have collapsed since the 1980s due to disease, bleaching, hurricanes, and rising temperatures. Many areas are now rubble fields, with only scattered colonies remaining.

Reef Renewal’s work restores more than coral—it rebuilds the structures that provide habitat for fish, invertebrates, and other reef life. Each coral branch added helps recover healthy, functional reef ecosystems.