Immersion Project: Coral Guardian

Ruxandra Toderasc, Martin Colognoli, Coral Guardian
 

Coral Guardian (CG) is a French NGO working internationally to protect and restore coral reefs ecosystems as well as strengthening the marine governance of local communities. In 2015 CG started a pilot project in Hatamin Island (Indonesia) aiming to contribute to the local communities’ well-being by increasing the coral cover, depleted mainly by dynamite fishing used by the local fishermen as well as the global changing conditions. Raising awareness programs were included in the NGO agenda, and the restoration process was developed with the local community since the beginning. 
 

Along with the biological monitoring of the coral transplants, social surveys have been made monthly since 2016 in order to follow up on the local fishing trends as well as the fish consumption. This information is key to assess the impacts of the intervention in the livelihoods of the neighboring communities. Nevertheless, this data was not analyzed, therefore the actual social impact of the project was not quantified nor communicated. This is the aim of the present internship: to analyze, synthetize and interpret the fisheries data gathered from 2016, create communication outputs to both local fishermen and other key stakeholders around the world, and improve the used methodologies to assess the social impact of the project. The analysis gives information to the NGO and the stakeholders about the project’s achievements and challenges socially speaking. It also aims to strengthen the social component of the NGO in terms of scientific analysis and communication. 


 

Started Fall 2019 - Paused in 2020

Current student: Florina Jacob