Scope: Bringing Coral Seeding into the Indian Ocean, Mauritius’ SECORE office serves as a research, training and coordination center

Lead: SECORE International

Launch: October 2024

Regional Impact: Capacity Building for Implementing Coral Seeding Sustainably

Funding: CORDAP (until 2027)

Regional Core Partner: Odysseo Oceanarium & Foundation

Read the press release Partnership Announcement: New Coral Seeding Initiative for the Indian Ocean (November 28th, 2024)

Achievements

Initial steps of laying the institutional foundation for this initiative are now successfully realized; the base for the Indian Ocean Coral Seeding Initiative, located on the island of Mauritius at our partner’s location (Odysseo Oceanarium), features a core team of professionals, land-based facilities and a strong network of local partners. Another important step was to integrate and embed efforts within the local community and ongoing restoration efforts. Our growing network already includes key local partners for collaboration and support.

We built the scientific framework for working with coral breeding on-site, and are establishing a regional coral spawning calendar. Partners and volunteers participate in the nightly monitoring, and a citizen science project makes it possible to report the “pink waters” observed from the beach. One year into the initiative, our team successfully propagated offspring of six coral species and deployed almost 400 Seeding Units at a pilot side—the first corals bred through our approach are now growing on Mauritius’ reefs. This year, we will start our full-scale Coral Seeding training featuring hybrid learning modules and hands-on practice.

Expertise & Experience

Built on global expansion and long-term impact, SECORE’s Training and Capacity Building Program aims at sustainable restoration with genetically diverse coral, bred through the Coral Seeding approach. The program is structured as a multi‑year commitment that transfers knowledge, builds local expertise, and creates a self‑sustaining network of restoration practitioners. This model has already been proven successful in the Caribbean Basin, where SECORE’s network spans 11 nations. The Indian Ocean Coral Seeding Initiative is called into action to adapt and implement the fruitful Caribbean model for the Western Indian Ocean, with Mauritius as the regional training and coordination center.

Do you want to report a coral spawning observation on Mauritius?

Join SECORE's Facebook group or email us at coralbabies.mu@secore.org

Odysseo Oceanarium & Odysseo Foundation spearheads the project and provides local infrastructure as host for our team.

Eco-Sud, a well established local marine conservation organization bringing essential expertise of the region and logistical support to protect Mauritian reefs.

University of Mauritius acts as a research partner for coral breeding studies.

Attitude Hotels/Foundation offers team assistance via Marine Discovery Center and logistical support.

CORDAP, essential funding and strategic support for the project’s expansion.