Coral Gardeners

Methodology

From donor colony to thriving reef — the science, processes, and shared language behind whole-ecosystem coral restoration.

Explore the methodology Browse the glossary

Why this exists

We don't just plant coral fragments — we rebuild functioning reef ecosystems. This guide is the single source of truth for how we do it: site selection, nursery operations, whole-colony outplanting, and long-term monitoring across every branch.

What's inside

Restoration Pipeline

The full eight-stage process — from selecting resilient donor colonies and growing staggered nurseries, to outplanting whole corals with their associated species at 50% cover targets.

Living Glossary

Precise definitions for every term we use in the field — fragments, genotypes, reef oases, health scores, morphological diversity, and more.

Getting Started

How this site is structured, who owns what, and how to contribute — whether you write Markdown or edit visually in Nuxt Studio.

Ready to dive in?

Start with the restoration pipeline to understand how we take a degraded reef to 50% coral cover, or browse the glossary to learn the shared vocabulary.

Read the methodology