Ocean Gardener

05/08/2026

One of the main competitors we have to fight against is the soft corals of the genus Xenia and Unomia.
One solution that we use is to outplant more aggressive hard coral species such as Euphyllia glabrescens and Galaxea fascicularis, and slowly reduce the surface area that these soft coral dominate.

04/08/2026

New Blog Post Alert! 🪸 🪸 🪸
No Coral, No Beach, and why it is so important to have healthy coral reefs.
To protect our Coral Lab, we need to replant corals in front of it to get our beach back!
https://oceangardener.org/blog/no-corals-no-beach/

28/07/2026

We hit a massive milestone! 🎉 We officially adopted out all 20 corals in our first pilot lot.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who made this happen! All funds go directly toward Ocean Gardener to keep these fragments growing in our nursery and planting more in the restoration area of Ped, Nusa Penida. 🌊

Because of your amazing support, you’ve helped us unlock our next lot of 20 corals! We can’t wait to show you the next line.

Want to be part of the next batch? Join the waitlist to adopt as we plant more corals!

👉 Link in bio!

18/07/2026

From a rubble field in 2022 to this in 2026! 600m2 of 'restoring' reef, from less than 1% coral cover to over 55%. Using a technique developed from local sea farming techniques, thermo-resilient corals, community-based... 4 years of maintenance, controlling COT and Drupella corallivore snails, introducing clams... A lot of people were trained, and here is the result of their very hard work.
Very proud of that result!

13/07/2026

Our foliose Montipora nursery, even though only 3 to 4 months old and composed of over a dozen different genotypes, is really showing promising results.
Foliose Montipora is not dominant on our reef, but they actually do very well in very few places.
If you're interested in visiting our nursery and learning about corals, check our website: www.oceangardener.org

09/07/2026

We are happy to announce we have been working with TFCCA to bring a special Coral Restoration Training program for fishermen, coastal communities, local conservation groups, and grassroots environmental leaders.

One of the biggest barriers to conservation training in Indonesia is accessibility. Most are conducted in English, or required a scientific background.

Every session is conducted entirely in Bahasa Indonesia, using simplified learning materials and extensive hands-on field practice. Participants do not need a university degree or English proficiency. Instead, the program builds on local knowledge and practical experience while introducing the science behind successful coral restoration in an accessible and practical way.

We will have 2 batches - in July and September 2026.

Learn more in our lastest update:
👉 Link in our bio under Field Updates.
👉 https://oceangardener.org/blog/tfcca-indonesia-training/

Ocean Gardener is launching a Coral Restoration Training Program funded by the TFCCA Grant Program, teaching coastal communities across Indonesia—in Bahasa Indonesia—how to restore their own coral reefs.

07/07/2026

RAJA AMPAT — ONE SPOT LEFT. 🐠

A last-minute cancellation just opened up a private cabin on our sold-out Coral Restoration Full Cert liveaboard — 4 weeks of hands-on reef restoration and scuba diving in one of the most remote, untouched dive destinations on Earth.

This course sold out fast. Now it's back for exactly one person with their own room!

📅 9 Aug – 2 Sept 2026 · 🏷️ IDR 134.7 mil�
DM us now to claim it before it's gone.

03/07/2026

Last night was a magical night and marked many firsts in Ocean Gardener’s history at our new Coral Lab in Nusa Penida.

It was our first batch of Full Cert students to use the Coral Lab, our first graduation ceremony here, and a first celebratory Nasi Campur dinner with the boys from the local fishermen’s community, friends and partners.

Thanks to Gaia One, Luminocean and Anambas Foundation for sending us scholarship students. Congrats to our OG staff Anjani and Dhani on completing their certification. Thank you our young divers Max and Alec for coming to join us!

This is a new chapter for us having a permanent home here in Nusa Penida and we look forward to sharing more memories, planting more corals and spreading awareness here with everyone.

This was our closest course group as demonstrated by the multiple group-hugs and sing-along sessions while planting corals. We will miss everyone. Come back and visit!

Come join us for our next batch in November or come intern and help replanting the reef here.

.restoration

01/07/2026

We often hear the term of Acropora monoculture when it comes to Coral Reef Restoration using Acropora.
There are between 140 and 400 different species of Acropora in Indonesia. So plenty to play with, and most are still unknown to science. Acropora is the biggest hard coral genus.
They used to dominate shallow water, but because of humans, they struggle. And because shallow reefs are the most affected by human impact, unfortunately, Acropora are the most affected by humans.
They have a very specific expansion strategy, the runaway evolution; they just try to outcompete everyone else.
In our particular coral reef restoration, Acropora used to dominate. We are growing and selecting fragments in shallow water nurseries to produce thermo-resilient corals that we outplant slightly deeper, on the outer reef.
We use different techniques to outplant corals, from rope to sement, wire mesh, spider... that allow us to outplant a WIDE variety of Acropora species. To name a few: Acropora pulchra, microphthalma, neglecta, spicifera, bifaria, millepora, valenciennesi, nobilis, abrotanoides, albrolhosensis, muricata, parahemprichii, austera, yongei, akajimensis... to name a few. So, no, it's not a monoculture; it's actually a very diverse reef.

Kita sering mendengar istilah monokultur Acropora ketika membahas restorasi terumbu karang menggunakan Acropora.
Terdapat antara 140 hingga 400 spesies Acropora yang berbeda di Indonesia. Jadi, banyak yang bisa dieksplorasi, dan sebagian besar masih belum diketahui oleh ilmu pengetahuan. Acropora adalah genus karang keras terbesar.
Dahulu mereka mendominasi perairan dangkal, tetapi karena campur tangan manusia, mereka kesulitan bertahan hidup. Dan karena terumbu karang dangkal paling terpengaruh oleh dampak manusia, sayangnya, Acropora juga paling terpengaruh oleh manusia.
Mereka memiliki strategi ekspansi yang sangat spesifik, yaitu evolusi yang tak terkendali; mereka hanya mencoba untuk mengungguli semua yang lain.
Dalam restorasi terumbu karang kami, Acropora dulunya mendominasi. Kami menumbuhkan dan memilih fragmen di pembibitan perairan dangkal untuk menghasilkan karang tahan panas yang kemudian kami tanam sedikit lebih dalam, di terumbu karang bagian luar.
Kami menggunakan berbagai teknik untuk menanam karang, mulai dari tali hingga sement, jaring kawat, jaring laba-laba... yang memungkinkan kami untuk menanam berbagai macam spesies Acropora. Beberapa di antaranya: Acropora pulchra, microphthalma, mengabaikan, spicifera, bifaria, millepora, valenciennesi, nobilis, abrotanoides, albrolhosensis, muricata, parahemprichii, austera, yongei, akajimensis... dan masih banyak lagi. Jadi, bukan, ini bukan monokultur; ini sebenarnya terumbu karang yang sangat beragam.

30/06/2026

The 3rd week of our coral reef restoration course is in full blast!
After a full week of CORAL ID, a second week of CORAL GARDENING, we are in full throttle in the third week of CORAL REEF RESTORATION. After a day learning Micro-Fragmentation, a day learning the Rope Nursery, a day of Wire Mesh Substrate Stabilization. Students started planting 91 Porites sp micro-fragments, then 75 Acropora parahemprichi and 126 Acropora akajimensis on rope nurseries, then 284 Echinopora lamellosa fragments on wire mesh substrate stabilisation. Here, they planted using our rope outplanting method 200 Acropora austera and 200 Acropora albrolhosensis, slowly increasing the pace every day.
And all this while collecting, coral predators: 396 Drupella and 25 Crown of Thorn Starfish.
Amazing work...

Minggu ke-3 kursus restorasi terumbu karang kami sedang berlangsung dengan penuh semangat!
Setelah satu minggu penuh IDENTIFIKASI KARANG, minggu kedua BERKEBUN KARANG, kami kini berada di minggu ketiga RESTORASI TERUMBU KARANG dengan kecepatan penuh. Setelah sehari belajar Mikro-Fragmentasi, sehari belajar Pembibitan Tali, sehari Stabilisasi Substrat Jaring Kawat. Para siswa mulai menanam 91 mikro-fragmen Porites sp, kemudian 75 Acropora parahemprichi dan 126 Acropora akajimensis pada pembibitan tali, kemudian 284 fragmen Echinopora lamellosa pada stabilisasi substrat jaring kawat. Di sini, mereka menanam menggunakan metode penanaman tali kami 200 Acropora austera dan 200 Acropora albrolhosensis, secara perlahan meningkatkan kecepatan setiap hari.
Dan semua ini sambil mengumpulkan predator karang: 396 Drupella dan 25 Bintang Laut Mahkota Duri.
Kerja yang luar biasa...

If you're interested in joining this course: https://oceangardener.org/course/full-cert/
Or just come and help us: https://oceangardener.org/internships/
Or for Indonesian citizens, get a scholarship: https://oceangardener.org/scholarship/