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RRFB Breeds Rare Pillar Coral for the First Time on Bonaire

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RRFB divers search the reef for signs of pillar coral spawning on Tuesday night. Photo credit: Julian Beccari
For the first time, Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) has successfully collected spawn from pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) and raised young corals through its breeding program. Pillar coral is critically endangered and has been devastated by diseases and bleaching, with only a handful of colonies remaining on Bonaire. For species like pillar coral, now too ...

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RRFB Produces 236,000+ Brain Coral Larvae During Spawning

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Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire successfully produced over 236,000 larvae after observing a grooved brain coral spawning event across four monitoring sites in Bonaire. As coral populations continue to decline across the Caribbean, facilitating sexual reproduction is a vital tool to boost resilience and preserve genetic diversity. This work is made possible through the support of ...

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RRFB Brings Together Caribbean Partners for Coral Restoration Workshop

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reef renewal bonaire coral workshop group photo 2
RRFB hosted a week-long coral restoration workshop in Bonaire, bringing together teams from Curaçao, Aruba, and Saba. The workshop focused on sharing techniques, aligning priorities, and building regional capacity for restoration. The teams led presentations and field sessions, working together to improve techniques like micro-fragmentation, fire coral propagation, and photogrammetry analysis. Download PDF Press Release ...

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Strengthening Bonaire’s Coral Reefs Amidst Unprecedented Bleaching

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Caribbean coral reefs, including Bonaire’s, have experienced unprecedented bleaching in the past two years, driven by record-high ocean temperatures that threaten the survival of nearly all species in the region. Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) is growing heat-resilient corals to strengthen vulnerable populations and help them survive mounting challenges. To scale up its response to bleaching, ...

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RRFB’s New Leadership and Team Expansion

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RRFB Announces New Leadership and Team Expansion The Board of Directors of Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) has appointed Ernst Noyons as Chief Operating Officer (COO), who has over 3 years of experience at the organization and previous roles in marine conservation. Our team continues to expand and scale their restoration activities to enhance the ...

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ReeFiesta 2024

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ReeFiesta 2024: Creating Community & Restoring Hope for Bonaire’s Reefs Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) hosted its 6th annual ReeFiesta event on Saturday June 1st to celebrate World Reef Awareness Day, in collaboration with 13 dive shops and 5 local sponsors. Over 120 divers and snorkelers had their first experience practicing hands-on coral restoration at ...

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Nursery Expansion Project

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RRFB Expands Capacity of Coral Nurseries RRFB is expanding its network of coral nurseries and restoration sites around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. RRFB employs selective propagation and breeding to strengthen coral populations, targeting coral genotypes that have demonstrated resilience to rising temperatures and stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). This project is made possible through ...

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Coral Seeding Collaboration

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Coral Seeding: Synergies in Technology and Application to Restore Coral Reefs in the Caribbean Fundación Dominicana de Estudios Marinos (FUNDEMAR) has joined forces with Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) and SECORE International to implement innovative approaches for large scale coral restoration. Key actions include optimizing mass breeding of corals, engineering individual steps of Coral Seeding ...

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Safeguarding the Genetic Diversity of Bonaire’s Coral Reefs

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Safeguarding the Genetic Diversity of Bonaire's Coral Reefs Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) uses selective breeding and assisted fertilization to increase the resilience of Bonaire’s coral reefs in the face of disease and rapidly warming waters. RRFB and partner organization Secore International share tools, expertise, and resources to strengthen populations of key coral species in ...

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