Coralive

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Coralive

Powering the future of coral restoration. We utilize methods that accelerate coral growth and enhance coral resiliency.

We are a non-profit organisation focusing on coral reef restoration and protection, management of marine protected areas, conservation education and developing alternative livelihood programs for coastal communities. With our passion for the ocean, we aim to restore and protect corals to preserve and enrich the marine environment.

02/06/2026

10 month Batanta nursery update: 96% survival 🪸

Between June 2025 and April 2026, our three rope nurseries at in Batanta reared a total of 1,876 coral fragments.
After ten months of growth, 1,800 coral colonies survived, resulting in an overall survival rate of 96%.

Most species performed exceptionally well, with all but one species achieving survival rates above 90%.

These results highlight the value of regular nursery maintenance. Through consistent cleaning, monitoring, and timely interventions, coral fragments are given the best possible conditions to survive and grow over time.

Of the surviving colonies, the majority have already been outplanted onto degraded reef areas, while others have been retained as donor colonies or left to grow larger before future outplanting.

We are excited to see these corals continue their journey from nursery fragments to reef-building colonies. 🌊

📸: .seastheday

29/05/2026

Who lives on the reef and why does it matter? 🔍

In addition to the reef surface, we also monitor key invertebrates.

Some species play important ecological roles, while others can directly impact coral survival - for example coral predators like Drupella snails or crown-of-thorns starfish.

By tracking their abundance, we can detect early signs of imbalance and respond where needed.
Understanding who is present on the reef is essential for protecting and restoring coral ecosystems.

22/05/2026

Where we work: Indonesia, Raja Ampat, Batanta 🌏🇮🇩

Why we’re here:
Batanta is part of Raja Ampat, one of the most biodiverse marine regions on Earth. Past dynamite fishing and increasingly strong storms have degraded the reef, leaving the coast vulnerable to erosion. Restoring the reef and mangrove ecosystems is essential to protect the land, the sea, and the people who depend on them.

What Coralive does on-site:
Since 2024, we have been working with our local partner at . We run coral nurseries to rebuild the degraded house reef and outplant nursery-grown corals onto damaged areas. Onshore, we install breakwaters and replant mangroves to reduce wave energy and support long-term beach stabilisation.️

What’s happening now:
Our team has just wrapped up their latest visit to Batanta. After weeks of nursery maintenance, reef monitoring, outplanting work, and teaching a field course, we are now busy sorting through images, analysing the collected data, and summarising the results from the trip. 🌊🪸

📷: partly by & .seastheday

19/05/2026

How do we measure coral growth? 🪸📏

When monitoring our nurseries, we don’t only look at whether corals survive - we also track how quickly they grow.

Traditionally, coral growth is often measured using linear extension, meaning only a single dimension such as height or branch length is recorded. While useful, this approach can miss a lot of the complexity of how corals actually grow.

Instead, we increasingly use ecological volume measurements. By measuring the length, width, and height of a coral colony, we can better estimate the total three-dimensional growth of the coral over time.

This is especially important because corals do not all grow in the same way. Some species mainly grow taller, while others expand sideways or become more compact and structurally complex. Measuring ecological volume therefore gives us a more complete picture of how much living coral habitat is actually being created in our nurseries.

Tracking growth this way helps us better compare species, evaluate restoration success, and understand which corals perform best under different conditions.

15/05/2026

Reef restoration meets soundscape science 🔊🪸

In Feridhoo, we are collaborating with Antonio Beggiato (), a marine biologist from the University of Padova ( ), who is investigating how acoustic enrichment can support coral reef restoration.

The idea: can the soundscape of a healthy reef help attract marine life and improve ecosystem recovery?

To test this, recordings from healthy reefs are used to recreate natural reef soundscapes at restoration sites. The response of fish communities and overall reef development is then monitored over time.

Coralive is supporting this research by providing coral fragments from our nurseries attached to welded steel pods that form part of the experimental setup.

Each pod was stocked with around 18 fragments from a mix of coral species to support long-term structural complexity, but also as part of the research design. The pods were then deployed in defined groups across the reef, allowing for comparisons between different treatment areas.

Alongside the direct contribution to reef regeneration, these setups will help us better understand how sound influences reef recovery.

🎥 videos: and .seastheday
✂️ editing:

12/05/2026

Promising start for our new Oaga nurseries 🪸

It has now been three months since the new rope nurseries were installed at Oaga and the corals are doing great. Of the original 651 coral fragments, only two have been lost so far, resulting in an overall survival rate of 99.7%.

Growth rates are also looking very promising, although they differ strongly between the Acropora species in the nursery. Acropora microphthalma showed the fastest growth, increasing by an average of 437% over the past three months, followed by A. muricata with 210% average growth.
The remaining species also showed positive development, with average growth ranging between 45% and 146% over the same period.

So far, the nursery has been under a regular cleaning and maintenance regime to provide the coral fragments with the best possible starting conditions. We are excited to continue monitoring how these corals develop over the coming months. 🌊

08/05/2026

A healthy reef, full of life 🪸🐠

A small reminder of what we’re working to protect and restore.

05/05/2026

Predator monitoring on the reef 👀

Long-term reef restoration relies on understanding what’s happening beyond the nursery itself.

Predator monitoring on natural reefs and around nursery sites helps us track which coral predators are present, whether populations are at natural levels or showing signs of outbreak, and if management actions might be needed to support restoration success. Monitoring is carried out along underwater transects, looking for species such as Drupella snails, cushion starfish, and crown-of-thorns starfish.

What makes this work so important is that early detection allows us to respond before predators cause large-scale coral loss.

Interested in hands-on reef monitoring and restoration work? Join us as a volunteer!

12/11/2025

Building capacity, building resilience

Last week, Coralive hosted a capacity-building workshop with 8 participants from the Wasini BMU, diving into four key themes:
🪸 Basic reef biology,
🌿 Advanced coral restoration,
⚙️ Rope nursery building,
📊 and Monitoring

Together, we’re strengthening local knowledge and skills to protect and restore the reef because lasting impact starts with empowered communities.

📸: Dzivula Gube

Address

Male
20094

Telephone

+41445868663

Website

http://www.coralive.org/

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