Mo'orea

Coral Gardeners

In Mo’orea, we worked with Coral Gardeners, a restoration group founded by local resident Titouan Bernicot. Unlike some of our other case studies—where coral projects were led by scientists or government agencies—Coral Gardeners began as a grassroots effort to protect the island’s reef. Over time, the group has grown into an international voice for coral, building partnerships with organizations like National Geographic and Billabong, and earning support from figures such as Jason Momoa. This combination of local roots and global visibility makes Coral Gardeners a unique leader in the movement for ocean health.

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To better understand their work, we used two methods from our Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit: the AVI process, which helps organizations articulate their core values, and our relational mapping tool, which makes visible the networks of people, resources, and collaborations that shape their mission.

We interviewed team members across science, operations, and restoration, as well as local ocean advocates, to capture different perspectives on influence, responsibility, and alignment. These conversations were transcribed, coded into data, and then turned into maps using our Relational Design Language (RDL). In these maps, the size of each node represents the influence a stakeholder holds, while the thickness of the lines shows the strength of the relationships. This approach let us visualize both formal partnerships and informal connections in the ecosystem.

The insights from this process are helping Coral Gardeners see their network more clearly—highlighting how their strong community identity and wide-reaching partnerships can work together to strengthen relationships, guide resources, and support their long-term goals for reef restoration.

View the map prototype below ↓

To learn more, visit the Revive & Restore Final Report.