Coral Reef Restoration
Kenya's most active community-led coral nursery. 25,000+ colonies hand-planted since 2019. Local fishers trained and employed as reef gardeners.
Since 2019, Oceans Alive Foundation has partnered with Coral Guardian International and Coral Reef Care to build Kenya's most active community-led coral nursery at Kuruwitu. Local fishers - the same men and women whose livelihoods depend on the reef - are trained and employed as certified reef gardeners.
Coral fragments are grown in underwater nurseries attached to metal tree structures. Once colonies reach transplantable size, community divers carefully move them to bleached and degraded areas of the reef. The result: 24,800 coral colonies planted since 2019 with an 85% survival rate - well above the global average.
The programme is deliberately designed so that the community owns it. Fishers who once dynamite-fished now guard the same reef, because they have seen it come back to life with their own hands. Within the protected tengefu, fish biomass has increased by 400% - and the fish have started coming back outside it too.
Programme
Coral Reef Restoration
Ecosystem · Programme 01
Trained community divers - local fishers turned reef guardians
“The reef is not just recovering - it is growing. We see fish we have not seen in twenty years.”
- Community diver, Kuruwitu
Connected Work
Related Programmes
Community Co-Management (LMMA)
Kenya's first LMMA. 120 km² under a formal management plan signed in 2022, placing communities at the centre of marine governance. A landmark in Kenyan marine governance history.
Kilifi BMU Network
Connecting and strengthening Beach Management Units across Kilifi County to ensure fishers' voices reach decision-makers at county and national level.
Research & Monitoring
Ecological baselines, fish biomass surveys, and coral cover assessments. The evidence base that underpins every programme and every policy recommendation OAF makes.
Support This Programme
Your donation directly funds conservation work on Kenya's coast.