RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has launched a large-scale coral restoration facility on the Red Sea coast, aiming to produce up to 360,000 corals annually and restore 100 hectares of reef by 2030.
The opening of what KAUST describes as the world’s largest coral restoration facility was announced at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkiye, according to a university statement on Wednesday.
The KAUST Coral Restoration Initiative operates a land-based nursery and research campus. It aims to plant more than 2 million corals across 100 hectares of reef at Shushah Island by 2030 and establish a resilient reef ecosystem by 2040.
The project comes as coral reefs face mounting threats from rising ocean temperatures and marine heat waves.
The fourth global coral bleaching event, between 2023 and 2025, affected more than 84 percent of the world’s reef area, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and was the most severe on record. Scientists also warn that a powerful El Nino weather pattern, forecast to intensify through early 2027, could expose vulnerable reefs to renewed severe heat stress.
KAUST said the Red Sea offered valuable opportunities for research because its corals survive in some of the world’s warmest and saltiest waters. Their natural resilience could provide lessons for protecting reefs elsewhere.
