Our partnership
Connecting people with natural landmarks like the Great Barrier Reef is at the core of what we do. Since 2009, we've partnered with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to support their work in protecting and restoring our iconic reefs.
In 2024, we committed $10 million over 10 years - the Reef Restoration Fund - to help support scientists, Traditional Owners and local tourism operators seeking to restore corals across the Great Barrier Reef and other Australian coral reefs.
Learn about how our partnership is a key element of our Nature Action Plan (PDF) and how we're helping to protect our reefs now and for future generations.
Reef Restoration Fund projects
The Reef Restoration Fund will expand restoration work across the Great Barrier Reef and fund cutting-edge research to regenerate corals in the future. In the first two years the fund will focus on three projects.
Boats4Corals
The Boats4Corals program helps to train local tourism operators, Traditional Owners and researchers in the coral restoration technique known as Coral IVF. In November 2024, the Reef Restoration Fund supported the expansion of the program to Cairns and Port Douglas.
Image credit: Johnny Gaskell.
Coral Nurture Program
Through the Coral Nurture Program, researchers and reef tour operators work together to replenish reef sites. The fund will strengthen tourism research partnerships and support the transition to a sustainable model by identifying coral species that are more resilient to changing conditions and can support a healthy reef function into the future.
Image credit: Emma Camp
“Restoring as little as 3% of coral reefs can drive the recovery of 50% of the entire ecosystem. This would be restoration on an unprecedented scale and we're making it local.”
- Theresa Fyffe, Great Barrier Reef Foundation Executive Director of Impact, shared on the TED2025 stage in Vancouver in June 2025.
ReefSeed
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is developing world-first portable coral nurseries in shipping containers that can grow and plant 100,000 corals each year. Through the fund, the first ReefSeed will be deployed on the Great Barrier Reef.
Image credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Important Information
Main header image credit: Gary Cranitch, Queensland Museum.