Coral Gardeners

Titouan Bernicot

Coral Gardeners

The work of Coral Gardeners founder and CEO

Chosen Topic: A young and his work Chosen subtopic: The work of Titouan Bernicot Work done by: Mafalda Pinto Lima, no.12, grade eleven Class C School year 2025/2026

Titouan Bernicot

• Son of pearl farm owners;
• Grew up on Mo’orea, part of French Polynesia;
• One day, at 16 years old, noticed something shocking;
• The corals had turned completely white;
• Worried, reached out to a friend, who was a marine biologist.

Bleached corals means that the organism is dying

Bernicot's action

• Titouan quickly became well-versed in the role of coral reefs;
• Climate change, pollution, and overfishing have been killing these natural structures;
• At just 18, he founded Coral Gardeners;
• Since 2017, Coral Gardeners has played a crucial role in restoring Mo’orea’s reefs;
• So far, they’ve planted over 100,870 corals;
• Today, theiy have expanded across French Polynesia, Fiji and Thailand.

• The core of their work is coral reef restoration;

• Their goal is to expand globally and empower local communities - building what they call a “bluer economy.”;
• To achieve this, Coral Gardeners invests in two key areas: innovation and awareness.

After adopting

Lately

The organization has reached 455 million people — including all 17,800 inhabitants of Mo’orea.

You receive:

• a photo of your coral;
• detailed updates on its development,
• real-time location tracking.

As a result

adoption

Through their website, anyone can “adopt” a coral, that belongs to the teams nursery, for around $30

This brilliant idea has helped restore over 100,000 living organisms — improving marine biodiversity and ocean health.

'That adoption program is how we sustain ourselves, as well as through key partners like Rolex, which supports us through its Perpetual Planet Initiative. Still, it’s not enough. [...] I’m really happy and proud of where Coral Gardeners is today—but it has to be just the beginning. To protect our oceans and our planet, we have a duty to keep on going, and to think big.'

- Titouan Bernicot, on Bazaar

The founder and ceo

Turned his doubts into fuel and founded an organization that tackles one of the most urgent environmental issues of our time. His organization is now expanding, working to restore coral ecosystems worldwide.

Titouan Bernicot

'They looked at me and said, “Little buddy, calm down. You’re only 16. You need to finish high school, then study marine biology. If you’re smart enough, you can do an eight-year PhD program and then sit at the table with us." ' -Titouan Bernicot, on Bazaar

Thank you!

Do you have any questions?

Webgraphy

• https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/titouan-bernicot
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/titouan-bernicot-85a249100/?originalSubdomain=pf
• https://coralgardeners.org/
• https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/a45585627/marine-biologists-doubted-him-now-hes-revolutionizing-coral-reef-restoration/
• https://www.rolex.com/rolex-family/planet/titouan-bernicot