Globally, an estimated 500 million people live within 100 kilometers of a coral reef and benefit from its production and protection. However, the most recent reports indicate that up to 27 percent of monitored reef formations have been lost and up to 32 percent are at risk of being lost in the next 32 years. This damage can be largely attributed to human activity. Many are now looking for solutions to this problem, in the face of what is a developing environmental disaster. One such solution is coral propagation or coral reproduction.

Sea Shepherd Dive has partnered with Malaysia-based Ocean Quest, which, among other services, offers coral propagation courses. There are various methods of coral propagation around the world, many of which use questionable methodology that includes metal grating, PVC pipes, leather, and even electrolysis. What attracted Sea Shepherd Dive to Ocean Quest was its almost entirely natural method. The founder of Ocean Quest is Anuar Abdullah. Anuar is a divemaster / artist / oceanographer, and has spent most of his life on the coral reefs of Malaysia, observing their behavior and life cycles, and conducting his own research.

The fundamental principle of the Ocean Quests Coral Propagation Program (CPP) is that the program is ONLY used to rebuild damaged reefs, NOT to create new reefs where they were not previously found. In addition to restoring our reefs, this program goes beyond the sea to target the root cause of the problem: impoverished local coastal communities forced to collect coral for their livelihoods. Ocean Quest aims to engage local communities in its CPPs, thereby providing them with an alternative source of income that aims to protect, rather than destroy, coral reefs.

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