Alex Neufeld, Science Program Manager at CRF™, represented the organization's mission and work at the 7th International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) in Cape Town, South Africa, held from October 13–18.
Organized by the Society for Conservation Biology’s Marine Section, the conference gathered over 800 participants, including researchers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, artists, and other marine stakeholders. This diverse group came together to share research, collaborate, network, and develop strategies to protect marine ecosystems worldwide.
The five-day event featured keynote speakers, presentations, and workshops on a variety of marine conservation topics. Centered around the theme "Making Marine Science Matter," the conference emphasized the importance of effectively communicating the significance of marine conservation to inspire large-scale, positive, and lasting change.
Prompted by discussions with international coral restoration practitioners, CRF™ seized this opportunity to introduce our mission and three key ongoing innovations to a broader international audience.
According to Alex,‘We found that this would be a good place for CRF™ to step into a new region of the world within the marine conservation space. The goal here was to try and get CeruleanAI, the Coral Sample Registry, and the learning ecosystem in front of a new audience’.
In a breakout session attended by roughly 40 participants, Alex outlined how these tools are set to revolutionize coral restoration practices and collaboration worldwide:
Cerulean AI-
CeruleanAI is an innovative program that simplifies photomosaic analysis for coral reef restoration. This all-in-one tool democratizes access to reef monitoring by automating the creation, storage, and analysis of high-resolution photomosaic images using artificial intelligence. Traditionally, generating and analyzing photomosaics for reef monitoring requires substantial computing power, time, and expertise to stitch gigapixel-sized images and manually identify corals. CeruleanAI streamlines this process. Each organization using this program will have access to their own trainable subset of the AI model, allowing restoration practitioners to input photos from their monitoring efforts and to train the artificial intelligence to automatically trace and compute coral coverage.
Coral Sample Registry-
The Coral Sample Registry seeks to standardize coral genotype data to increase the capability of cross-organization collaboration through data sharing. Currently, each coral restoration organization uses its own unique method to identify and name genotypes, making data sharing between organizations challenging and, in some cases, unfeasible. Alex’s work on developing the Coral Sample Registry aims to streamline this process by assigning a single, universal identifier to each genotype. This standardized nomenclature will enable organizations to compile and analyze data collectively, breaking down barriers to collaboration and fostering a unified approach to coral restoration.
Learning Ecosystems-
Led by Roxane Boonstra, Learning Ecosystem Administrator at CRF™, our learning ecosystem is an ongoing initiative designed to centralize and share coral restoration knowledge across disciplines, regions, and methodologies. A "learning ecosystem" represents a gathering of individuals, content, culture, strategy, operations and more that exists within and outside of an organization. Coral Restoration Foundation™ is working to create a learning ecosystem for the coral restoration and adjacent fields that gathers knowledge, experience, science, practitioners, researchers, conservationists in a single space to a) promote learning through educational curriculum, b) facilitate exchanges and stimulate discussion relevant to and amongst the field and c) encourage networking and collaboration amongst those involved directly or indirectly with the field of coral restoration and greater marine and coral conservation.
Outside of presentations by CRF™ , Alex highlighted a key takeaway from keynote speaker Angelo Villagomez, Senior Fellow for Indigenous-led Conservation & Ocean Conservation at the Center for American Progress. In discussing the 30 by 30 project, which aims to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, the speaker discussed “Goodheart’s Law” and urged participants to think beyond numerical targets, warning of unintended consequences.
In Alex’s words:
“Once you make an indicator or a metric into a target, it loses its value as a representative indicator or metric. In layman’s terms – once you establish a system, the system can be rigged. With something like 30 by 30, if the goal is to protect 30% of the ocean, then you are at risk of simply protecting the easiest 30%, not necessarily a representative 30%... so you have now defeated the original purpose of the project by assigning a target to that purpose.”
He found this discussion highly relevant to coral restoration, particularly when discussing what success means in the field of marine conservation.
“When we talk about metrics for success, such as the area of reef restored or coral coverage… Well, coverage of what? Is it the fastest coral we can grow? If that is the case, we can get to coral coverage real fast, but is that actually what we should be going for?... I think that we are at the point in marine conservation where just hitting a target or a goal is not the end game; rather, marine conservation and coral restoration are things that must be iterative and require constant work and pressure.”
After the conference, Alex was able to enjoy the week diving and exploring South Africa, soaking in the sun and reflecting on his time working closely with international marine professionals.
“I think that it is good to maintain knowledge about what these different international conservation societies are about and what they are focusing on. So while it wasn't a super heavy coral restoration conference, I think it was valuable to have a voice there, to have our name be there, and to even reach a few new folks in specific and tangible ways.”
Our participation in the IMCC marks a pivotal moment in expanding its influence on global coral restoration efforts. Through innovations like CeruleanAI, the Coral Sample Registry, and our learning ecosystem, CRF™ is equipping the marine conservation community with the tools and knowledge needed to make lasting change. At the same time, critical conversations around metrics and goals underscore the importance of maintaining focus on long-term ecosystem health, reinforcing the role of CRF™ as a leader in the ongoing journey of marine conservation. Coral Restoration Foundation is grateful for Alex’s attendance and looks forward to a future of collaboration reaching for our collective goal: a healthy blue planet.
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