Richmond Vale Academy: Training Vincentian Coral Gardeners to Replant a Reef

Richmond Vale Academy runs a coral restoration programme along the coast of St. Vincent, working with regional partners CLEAR Caribbean, Sustainable Grenadines and We Are Mayreau to grow elkhorn and staghorn coral in underwater nurseries at four sites and outplant them onto damaged reef. In its first 14 months the programme outplanted over 10,000 coral fragments with an 85 to 90 percent survival rate, while training local Vincentians as certified coral gardeners and divers. The academy combines this marine work with long-running climate and community volunteer programmes that have issued more than 150 diving certifications to residents and international volunteers, even after the 2021 La Soufrière volcanic eruption forced the project to rebuild from scratch.