Support Local Coral Gardeners in French Polynesia

WE DID IT!

We raised enough to make this workshop possible- your donation will go towards the return airfare of the Project Scientist Dr. Austin Bowden-Kerby from Fiji to Moorea. The distsance is vast, and it takes a full day of travel via New Zealand.  Austin will be donating two weeks of his time to the work, and we hope to get local builders and companies to donate the materials for constructing the gene bank coral nurseries.  As no scuba diving is required, the cost of this work is greatly reduced, and more young people can become involved. 

Accommodation for the scientist and workshop expenses on Moorea will be covered by the local organization, the www.coralgardeners.org.  We are discussing the possibility of attendees paying a modest fee to cover meals, boat expenses, and the like. There are five island groups in French Polynesia, and it would be good to foster the coral work in each of these island groups, using the Moorea sites as model training sites.

Discussions are in process for the best timing for the "Coral Restoration for Climate Change Adaptation" training, with August 2020 being a likely possibility.  This gives us time to find the resources needed to include trainees from the other islands, and for them to find their own resources to enable them to attend.

But don't just jump up and come, although we would love to have you- LOL.  We will need to limit the numbers in the training due to boat capacity, and so we will be developing a registration list.  If there is room for overseas trainees they will be charged a substantial course fee, to help offset workshop expenses.

We are all very excited about the project, and will send a report of the workshop with photos, once it is completed. 

Thanks go out to all of our project donors for helping make this amazing work happen. 

Warm greetings to all from the balmy South Pacific 

Links:

• The Moorea host organization, lots of youth energy!