About 50 Reefs
A game-changing idea that came from filming Chasing Coral
The idea for 50 Reefs emerged during the filming of the Netflix Documentary Chasing Coral. The film features Richard Vevers and his team documenting and raising awareness about the third global coral bleaching event, which devastated reefs around the world and killed half of the corals on the Great Barrier Reef.
After witnessing the scale and speed of coral reef loss due to climate change, Vevers was surprised to discover that there wasn’t a global plan to save the ecosystem. He was equally surprised to find out how little funding was available to save what is one of the world’s most valuable ecosystems. Vevers came up with the idea of commissioning a scientific study to identify a list of fifty coral reefs with the best chance of survival — knowing this would help focus effective action and act as a catalyst for support.
The 50 Reefs Initiative was launched in 2018 by Richard Vevers’ nonprofit, The Ocean Agency, in partnership with the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society. 50 Reefs was initially funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
Header photo Renata Romeo / Ocean Image Bank