The Forever Reef Project

Join us to complete the most precious collection on Earth

000/

Great Barrier Reef coral
species preserved forever

THE FOREVER REEF PROJECT WILL PRESERVE CORAL BIODIVERSITY FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

It's a groundbreaking initiative to collect living specimens of the world's coral species and preserve them in a living ‘coral ark ’. We can protect coral biodiversity forever, but our window of opportunity is rapidly closing and we can't keep doing this alone.
We need you.

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Without question, this is the most important project we can be undertaking for corals and coral reefs.

Dr Charlie Veron, The Godfather of Coral, Former Chief Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

COLLECTION PROCESS

1 Collection

Find & identify wild coral

Species also tagged
and photographed

Data about conditions recorded

Collect living coral sample

Live parent colony
left on reef

Biodiversity collection

1 sample of each species

Genetic collection

10-30 variations of
each species

2 Processing

Fragging

Each sample is divided into multiple living fragments

Microchipping

Each fragment is placed on an RFID plug for tracking in a database

Fragment growth

Fragment size doubles every 6-12 months

3 Preservation

Tissue
samples

Cryogenically
frozen

Genetic
analysis

DNA sequences
stored in database

Coral arks

Living coral fragments maintained and monitored in tanks

Living coral fragments, tissue samples and DNA are made available for reef research and restoration efforts

Why do we need to do this?

Coral cover and biodiversity are declining worldwide due to climate change. Losing coral reefs will be catastrophic. They support 25% of all marine life, provide essential foods and services to an estimated one billion people and serve as natural marine barriers that protect coastal communities.

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With every bleaching event we lose vulnerable corals and with over 50% of corals already gone in the last few decades we don't have a moment to lose.

Dr Dean Miller, Managing Director of Great Barrier Reef Legacy and Project Director.

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE TO DONATE?

^$

Nominate an amount of your choosing.

^$6

Support a single coral fragment health check within the Forever Reef collection

^$20

Support 4 coral fragment health checks within the collection.

^$40

Per Month

Adopt a coral and help care for and maintain that single coral fragment within the Forever Reef collection.

^$100

Helps fund the next coral collection diving expedition. We need $6000 for each trip out to the reef.

^$6,000

Funds 1 full-day diving expedition to collect up to 9 new coral species.

^$15,000

Helps fund the ongoing costs of maintenance and coral supplements for the Forever Reef Facility for one year.

^$22,000

Fund a 4-day collecting expedition - 4 full-day diving operations for coral species collections - possibility for up to 36 new species collected

^$50,000

Funds a remote 7-day collection expedition to search for rare coral species. We estimate that this will lead to the discovery and collection of approximately 30 new species.

^$100,000

Funds a remote 14-day collection expedition to search for rare coral species. We estimate that 14 full days of diving operations would lead to approximately 72 new species being collected.

^$250,000

Funds a remote 30-day collection expedition to search for rare coral species. A 30-day diving operation would lead to approximately 112 new species being collected.

^$500,000

Funds the collection of the remaining 200 species of hard coral from The Great Barrier Reef to complete the most precious collection on earth.

^$1,000,000

Funds the collection of the remaining 200 species of Great Barrier Reef hard coral to complete the full collection and then maintain the Forever Reef for 3 years.

Great Barrier Reef Legacy is a registered charity with tax deductable DGR status.

Facilities - Cairns Aquarium

The first official hub of the Forever Reef Project is now open at Cairns Aquarium, North Queensland. The facility is home to many species of precious coral already collected from the Great Barrier Reef, and is capable of hosting up to 12,000 live coral fragments.