About Us

Mission

To help protect and restore coral reefs through research, conservation and education, following the order the evidence supports: protect living reefs and clean the water first, restore populations second, and build new structure only where the reef’s foundation is gone.

Where things stand

The center is in planning. It is not operating, and no permits, partners, staff or opening dates are announced. This site is an early preview of the research library that will support the work.

What this site is — and is not

• It is a research-first library: we show our sources, do not invent data, and separate evidence from proposals.
• It is not a shop, a booking engine, or a place to report results the center has not produced.

Work already under way across the Philippines

Filipino universities, agencies and NGOs already lead reef science and restoration nationwide — for example the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute in Bolinao, northern Luzon (coral cryobank); Silliman University’s Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences in the Visayas and Mindanao (2025 restoration research); the long-studied community reserve at Apo Island, Negros Oriental (Russ et al. 2004); Davao Oriental State University in Pujada Bay (2025 report); Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in the Sulu Sea (UNESCO); and, in Palawan, the El Nido Foundation’s Coral Reef Restoration and Education Program. This library cites existing work rather than overwriting it. See the Philippines & the Coral Triangle Reef Zone (Zone 10).

Our Name

This tribe isn't one you're born into. It's one you choose. Fishers, divers, students, scientists, and neighbors are all choosing the same thing: to show up for the reef. Reef Tribe is for anyone who decides the ocean is worth protecting, and who wants to learn how, side by side.