How We Work
Learn our methodology
How We Work
We document before we act, and we publish everything we find.
Every reef survey follows a consistent scientific protocol. Every dive is filmed.
Every result goes into the public record.
This is how reef conservation earns the trust it takes to last.
Our Model
How We Work
Every dollar we raise is traceable from the moment it arrives to the moment the coral is in the ground. Here is exactly how that happens.
Three principles. Everything we do flows from these.
Document Everything
Every mission is filmed from entry to coral planting and published publicly on YouTube. Every coral is photographed at the moment of planting. We document what we find, not what we hoped for.
Track Every Coral
Every coral fragment planted is GPS-recorded and followed up at 6 and 12 months with photos and survival data. Donors who fund planting receive these coordinates. Your coral has a location you can look up.
Report Per Mission
We do not make donors wait for an annual report. After every mission, every donor receives a full impact update with photos, GPS data, and documented coral survival rates.
From donation to documented coral. Five steps.
This is exactly what happens between when you give and when you receive your first impact report.
Baseline Survey
Before any restoration begins at a new site, our Director of Dive Operations and UP MSI scientists conduct a systematic baseline survey. Photo transects, species identification, substrate mapping, water quality assessment, and coral cover measurement are all recorded and published in The Reef Archive.
Coral Nursery
Healthy coral fragments are collected from donor colonies and attached to underwater nursery structures. Dindo Paquibot, our Director of Dive Operations, has five years of direct coral nursery construction and maintenance experience at Maribago Bay in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. Nurseries are maintained every two to four weeks.
Reef Rescue Dive
The funded restoration dive. Matured coral fragments are transplanted onto prepared substrate at the restoration site. Every dive is filmed from entry to final coral placement. Each coral is photographed underwater at GPS coordinates. The entire mission video is published on our YouTube channel within two weeks of the dive.
Donor Impact Report
Within two weeks of every mission, every donor who funded that dive receives a full impact report. Photos from the dive. GPS coordinates for their coral. The mission video link. A written summary of site conditions and restoration outcomes.
6 and 12-Month Follow-Up
We return to every restoration site at 6 months and 12 months. Our team dives to each coral's exact GPS coordinates, photographs its current condition, measures growth, and records survival status. These results go into The Reef Archive publicly and into a follow-up report sent to every donor who funded that mission.
Four programs. One integrated model.
Every program we run is designed to reinforce the others. Restoration creates the data. Documentation builds the trust. Education grows the community. The community funds the restoration.
Reef Rescue Dives
Our core program. Funded, science-partnered coral restoration dives at reef sites in Moalboal, Malapascua, and Olango Island in Cebu. Every mission is filmed from entry to coral planting and published publicly on YouTube.
Science partner: UP Marine Science Institute
Adopt-A-Coral
Donors sponsor specific coral fragments for $100. Each coral is named, GPS-recorded, photographed at planting, and updated at 6 and 12 months with survival data. The most personal way to give to the reef.
Adopt a coral →The Reef Archive
A living public database of reef health at every site we work. Baseline surveys, restoration records, GPS coral data, and long-term monitoring results. Open to researchers, conservation managers, and the public.
Updated after every mission
Coral and Kin
Ocean literacy for Filipino-American youth in Houston and school communities in Cebu, developed with Philippine marine scientists. Free to all participants. Connects diaspora youth to the reefs their heritage comes from.
Free to all participants
We do not guess.
We partner with scientists.
Every Reef Without Borders field operation is conducted in partnership with the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, the national leader in coral reproduction research in the Philippines. UP MSI scientists provide ecological guidance on site selection, species choice, nursery methodology, and restoration monitoring.
Our Director of Dive Operations, Dindo C. Paquibot, is a PADI-certified Dive Instructor with 20 years of professional experience in Philippine waters and five years of direct coral nursery and transplantation work at Maribago Bay, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. He is the institutional memory of these reefs. He knows which substrate is stable, which currents support coral growth, and which community partners are committed to protecting the sites between our missions.
This combination of local expert knowledge and academic science partnership is what allows us to plant coral in the right location, with the right species, at the right time of year.
Science Partner
University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute
National leader in coral reproduction research in the Philippines. Active reef monitoring research in Cebu Province.
Field Leadership
Dindo C. Paquibot
PADI Instructor since 2007 • 20+ years Philippine waters
5 years coral nursery and transplantation, Maribago Bay, Cebu
Born and raised in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu
Phase 1 Sites
Moalboal • Malapascua • Olango Island
Cebu Province, Philippines
Coral Triangle, Southeast Asia
We publish what we find. Not just what we hoped for.
Most reef organizations publish an annual report. We publish every dive. Here is what radical transparency actually looks like in practice.
Every Dive Filmed
Every Reef Rescue mission is filmed from the moment our team enters the water to the moment the last coral is planted. The full video is published on YouTube. Not edited highlights. The full mission.
Survival Data Published
Coral mortality is part of restoration ecology. When a coral does not survive, we document it and explain the likely cause. We publish survival rates in The Reef Archive after every 6-month and 12-month follow-up. We do not hide failure.
Budget Publicly Displayed
Our budget allocation is published on our website and reported to every donor: 60% field operations, 25% science and documentation, 10% community education, 5% administration. No annual report needed to find out where your money went.
View our full Impact and Transparency page
EIN, budget allocation, organizational documents, and governance details.
Now you know how we work.
Here is how to help.
Every dollar you give is traceable. Every coral is filmed. Every result is reported back to you. That is the promise we make to every supporter of Reef Without Borders.