Coral Gardeners: protectors of the reefs
Titouan Bernicot wants to make “coral gardener” an official profession. He was 16 when he realized the full extent of the coral bleaching issue while surfing with his friends in Moorea, Tahiti's sister island. Since then, the founder and president of the Coral Gardeners association has been committed to protecting the reef and marine ecosystems. Air Tahiti Nui, the association's long-standing partner, has supported Coral Gardeners' innovative work since its launch.
Titouan Bernicot shares his story with us:
Can you tell us about Coral Gardeners and its mission?
« Coral Gardeners was founded in 2017. The organization’s goal is to help protect coral reefs around the world. We have come to realize that these ecosystems are home to the greatest biodiversity on Earth and are extremely important to our blue planet.
Our mission is to both preserve them and restore their biodiversity using coral restoration techniques. We strive to raise awareness about their importance worldwide and within local communities, while constantly seeking to innovate and develop new approaches and tools to improve our daily operations.
The project began in Moorea, in my bedroom, nine years ago. Today, we are a team of 80 employees. We are the largest team in the world in Coral Restoration, and we are currently working in three different countries: French Polynesia, Fiji, and, more recently, Thailand. »
What issues are you trying to solve?
« Coral reefs have existed for 400 million years. They were here even before the dinosaurs, and yet, in the span of 30 years, we have lost more than half of our planet’s coral reefs. When I started the project 9 years ago, we were down to 25%… If we do nothing, scientists estimate that by 2050, 90% of the remaining reefs will be doomed. We could soon lose these ecosystems, which are among the most important on our planet!
Coral reefs are life; they’re sort of the lungs of our oceans, and the oceans are the lungs of this blue planet. We can’t afford to lose one of our lungs: more than half of the oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans. And if we truly lose what’s known as “the Rainforest of the Sea,” it will be the beginning of the end. »
What are your daily responsibilities?
« The strategy has really evolved over the past few years. We’re aiming to revolutionize the approach to marine conservation. Coral restoration is a relatively new practice. We’ve been planting trees for millennia, but it’s only been a few decades since we started propagating and planting corals.
The profession of Coral Gardener is now on the path to official recognition. We want our coral restoration work to be of the highest quality in the world, with exceptional efficiency and outstanding results. So, we spend a large part of our time on that. We strive to achieve the best possible results in terms of growth, health, and survival for our corals. To that end, we collaborate extensively with scientists from around the world on coral genetics and resilience. Our figures are already very encouraging, as we have 80% survival rate for corals planted across our three international branches, and a growing restoration footprint across 8 islands and 12 sites.
Six years ago, we even established our very own in-house research and development center called CG Labs. We are fortunate to collaborate with a team of engineers and PhD scientists from leading universities with experience working at Silicon Valley companies. These experts help us gather as much data as possible to measure the impact of our work on the environment and interpret that data to refine our methods. Our CG Labs have already led to major advances, particularly in the field of spatial intelligence: we can transform the data and images collected at restoration sites into detailed 3D models of the reefs. This innovative technology greatly facilitates our work. It provides us with valuable information about the condition of the coral and enables advanced reef monitoring.
We also have other missions in terms of education and awareness-raising. The biggest problem is that few people are aware of these issues or want to be part of these conservation movements. That’s why we’ve become the face of coral restoration around the world.
For example, thanks to Air Tahiti Nui, I attended the Reef Future global coral restoration summit in Mexico in December 2024. We were able to bring a team of 13 scientists and coral gardeners. Thanks to these events, everyone can better understand the issues related to the reefs. It’s really important.
At the same time, we’re trying to “rebrand” and give ecology a new image: we want to make ecology and the conservation of our planet more appealing, so that it interests as many people as possible. Today, more than a million people support and follow our mission. »
Could you tell us about your partnership with Air Tahiti Nui?
« Our partnership with Air Tahiti Nui has changed everything for us. It’s our longest-standing partner: we’ve been partnering with Air Tahiti Nui for 9 years now, and meeting with its marketing director, Torea Colas, was truly an incredible experience. He really believed in our project and gave me a huge boost of motivation. He was the one who told me to spare no effort, and that’s exactly what we did - it really gave us wings.
The partnership with Air Tahiti Nui allowed us to welcome many experts in French Polynesia. More than twenty international scientists from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, the United States, and other countries came to train us. From the very beginning, we were also fortunate to have the support of the CRIOBE (Island Research Center and Environmental Observatory) and Laetitia Hédouin, who taught me a great deal about the fundamentals of ecology and reef ecosystems.
Air Tahiti Nui also enables us to travel internationally. In 2025, I attended the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, UNOC. We went there with about a hundred people from French Polynesia. It was a pivotal moment in the history of the oceans. As for Coral Gardeners, we were about ten people: members from France and the United States joined us, but there were also several young Polynesians, some of whom had never traveled before. These kinds of international events have allowed us to find more partners, reach more people, and grow Coral Gardeners in line with the ambitious goals we set for ourselves from the start. »
What are the next steps for Coral Gardeners?
« To date, we have planted more than 220,000 corals since the start of our initiative. That represents thousands of hours spent underwater, and we work with more than a hundred species of coral around the world.
For example, at the Tiaia nursery, coral coverage has increased dramatically. In 13 months, the number of fish in the area has doubled. It’s wonderful to see these results. We’re also expanding in French Polynesia: in the Tuamotu Islands, specifically Ahe and Tikehau, as well as in Teahupo’o and Bora Bora.
From a technological standpoint, things are moving very quickly. We’ve hired an engineer specializing in artificial intelligence to automate the entire monthly scientific monitoring system for our coral, using 3D photogrammetry and AI that measures coral health and growth.
We’re in discussions with the Polynesian government to really try to develop this new industry. We’ve created a new profession with Coral Gardeners: the gardeners of the sea. We now have about fifteen local young people who make a living from this profession through permanent contracts, earning a living by preserving their natural heritage. »
How can people support Coral Gardeners?
« We’ve developed a completely revamped coral adoption program. Anyone can adopt a piece of coral for any occasion: World Oceans Day, Christmas, or a birthday, for example. It takes less than a minute to do on our website. Then, adopters can follow a one- to two-year cycle tracking the harvesting of their coral, its planting, the fish surrounding it, and more... all thanks to artificial intelligence that provides much more detailed updates than before.
We’ve also launched the Coral Gardeners Xperience: visitors can spend 2.5 hours discovering the project, touring the nurseries, and helping our teams with their daily tasks… It’s the only tour in Polynesia where you can really join in the work and help leave the place you’re visiting in better condition. The funds raised from adoptions and ecotours are reinvested in our mission. »
What message would you like to share today?
« The Polynesians were among the first peoples to understand how to live in harmony with nature. They realized that there is no boundary between the mountains, the sea, and people. This understanding and connection with nature has been partly lost, but I think it’s time for us to reconnect with it. For me, there’s nothing better than growing coral or plants: it’s the best way to work hand in hand with nature.
It’s incredible to be able to cooperate and collaborate in harmony with nature and bring life and color to the oceans and the reef... it’s beautiful!
My main advice would be to stay positive and be a bearer of messages of hope. French Polynesia must be the global model for these initiatives that will restore people’s hope. And it starts right here, in our lagoon, on land, and in our forests. People need to get involved, and we need to stay positive because this is truly the beginning of something big, and I can’t wait to show the whole world what’s coming in the next few years. »
Find and Support Coral Gardeners
Check out the organization’s latest news on Instagram and Facebook, and visit the Coral Gardeners website to adopt a coral, book your Coral Gardeners Xperience tour, or contact the organization.
© Pictures : Coral Gardeners / Noé Langronier
