Post by Kaori Media

🗣️ Interview with Mr. Titouan Bernicot, Founder & CEO of Coral Gardeners, for an upcoming Los Angeles Times report on #FrenchPolynesia 🌊 Born from the Ocean: Titouan grew up in the remote atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago, where corals, fish, and sharks were his playground. At 16, surfing his favorite reef break in Moorea, he witnessed mass bleaching for the first time. That moment changed everything, and #CoralGardeners was born. 🪸 A Crisis Hiding Underwater: When Coral Gardeners launched nine years ago, roughly 25% of the world's #coral reefs were already gone. Today, that figure stands at 50%. Without urgent action, scientists warn that up to 90% could disappear by 2050, taking with them food security, coastal protection, medicine, and biodiversity richer than rainforests. 🌱 Restoration at Scale: Coral Gardeners identifies heat-resilient "super-corals," grows them in underwater nurseries for up to two years, then transplants them onto degraded reefs. The results speak for themselves: at one site, planting 20,000 corals doubled the local fish population in just 13 months. 💻 Where Silicon Valley Meets the Sea: With engineers recruited from Google, Tesla, and SpaceX, and support from tech leaders including Larry Page, Coral Gardeners built AI-powered tools to monitor reef health in real time. Local fishermen and surfers now use iPhones underwater to collect scientific data, putting ocean stewardship directly in the hands of communities. 📣 Conservation as a Movement: Taking cues from brands like Nike and Apple, Coral Gardeners built a global community of 1 million followers. Ambassadors including Jason Momoa, Lewis Hamilton, and Benedict Cumberbatch amplified the message. Partnerships with ROLEX, Prada, and National Geographic have helped raise over $20 million, all in service of the reef. 🎓 The Next Generation: Through school programs across #Tahiti and #Moorea, Coral Gardeners is teaching children to grow corals, monitor ecosystems, and see ocean conservation as a career, not a sacrifice. 💬 Final Message: "We have already lost half the world's coral reefs in just a few decades. But French Polynesia still has some of the most resilient reefs on Earth. If we act now, we can protect and restore them. The ocean is worth fighting for." Catherine Plourde https://lnkd.in/dSZbyRWE