Empowering local partners to safeguard their reefs

Leveraging our 25 years of coral growing experience for success

Our History

With the 1997-1998 economic crisis, the people of Indonesia and their coastal communities suffered considerable loss of income. Vincent Chalias, a marine biologist with an aquaculture background, saw the opportunity to transform the tropical marine aquarium industry from collecting wild live corals, to a farm-based one whilst giving these coastal communities another form of income. He came up with the idea to mariculture these corals, so they no longer need to be taken from the reef. Also, these farmed corals can be used to replant and restore damaged reefs.

He found in Mr Manumudhita a great partner and inspiration. Mr Manumudhita, after working for many years as the Director of the Fisheries Department, retired and became the head of the Bali Fishermen Associations, helping defend the livelihood of fishermen all over the country. The first trial was in Nusa Dua in 2000. Since then, many more nurseries have been installed in many corners of Bali, as well as other islands of Indonesia. growing almost any possible coral species.

In 2018, Ocean Gardener was created as a non-profit dedicated to coral education and coral reef restoration. The first line of work was education. We created educational material for different communities to help increase knowledge and understanding of corals. Next, coral nurseries were started in Candidasa, Sanur, Lipah, Ped and Bangka. Also, different reef restoration projects were started.

With Vincent’s 25 years of experience in commercial coral farming, the projects quickly showed good results. Our list of nurseries, coral restoration projects and trained people to maintain and garden their reef keeps growing.

Our philosophy

We work with partners to create a network of resorts, dive shops and communities who go through our training to create and maintain nurseries, as well as set up new restoration sites. We ensure we continue monitoring to ensure long term success.

Actively Restoring Degraded Reefs

Work with local communities

Educating people about corals

Monitoring for long term success

The Ocean Gardener Team

We are a team of marine biologists, professional divers, coral farmers, conservationists and students, dedicated to educating as many people as possible about the coral reefs and their importance. We believe that without proper coral education, reefs can’t be properly protected.

Vincent

Founder / Course Director

Vincent Chalias has been diving Indonesian reefs for over 25 years. He started the first Indonesian commercial coral farms in 2000 and produced a million corals over his commercial farming career. He has since dedicated his life to the coral reefs. He has worked in Australia and Saudi Arabia on different Large Scale Coral Reef Restoration projects. Vincent is an avid underwater photographer and article writer. His works have been published in many diving and reef aquarium publications.

Nicole

Co-founder / Marketing Director

Nicole Helgason is a professional scuba diving instructor with nearly two decades of experience exploring and documenting coral reefs worldwide. Her passion extends to creating educational content about corals and reef aquariums, contributing to coral conservation efforts through her travels and work. Nicole utilizes her extensive experience in coral farming to further education and reef restoration, aiming to raise global awareness about the vital importance of coral reefs.

Manumudhita

Co-founder

Mr Manu has devoted himself to fisheries and maritime affairs for more than 30 years. He started developing coral reef transplantation techniques in 2000. And has the copyright for coral propagation techniques. He founded Ocean Gardener with Vincent to preserve coral reefs and improve the lives of fishermen. Until now, he is still active in various coastal community empowerment activities.

Indah

Finance Administrator

Indah grown up in the mangrove at the back of her house. She developed a keen interest for marine life from a very young age. Leaving in the biggest archipelago in the world, and the center for coral diversity, she’s now super happy to be able to support coral conservation efforts. She’s helping us with all the financing parts.

Kirana

Operations Administrator

Kirana has a background in Agribusiness and holds a Master’s in Marketing. With over 15 years of experience in the coral industry, she has gained extensive knowledge in coral conservation, restoration, and sustainable practices. Kirana applies passion for coral conservation, her organizational and communication skills to ensure operations run smoothly.

Festi

Course Instructor, and Junior Research Associate

Festi has a Bachelor’s degree in Fisheries Management and is one of our Full Coral Restoration Cert Alumni. She’s been working hard with the community in Ped to help grow the project there. She’s involved with Coral Spawning Monitoring, teaching coral ID and coral reef restoration courses and will soon be embarking on her Master’s Degree.

Irpan

Community Organiser & Photogrammetry Supervisor

Irpan, a Marine Science graduate from Udayana University, has extensive experience in marine ecosystem research, rehabilitation, and environmental studies. He contributed to the Coral Reef Garden Creation project by the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordination. He has also participated in coral reef planting and monitoring using photogrametry at Ped Beach, Nusa Penida.

Anastasia

Junior Research Associate

Anastasia is a young Marine Biology bachelor’s degree student and one of Ocean Gardener’s newest Coral Reef Restoration Course Alumni. She’s also involved with Coral Spawning monitoring, and will soon take up the challenge of getting her Master’s Degree with us.

HELP US SAVE THE CORAL REEFS

Your donations help us identify new partners for nurseries and restoration sites. It also supports our staff who help set up the education programs from coral nursery setup, creating grafts for coral restoration sites and conservation of existing reefs.

Empowering local partners to safeguard their reefs

Our History

Our philosophy