An Exclusive Look Inside the Largest Effort Ever Mounted to Keep the Great Barrier Reef Alive
January 27, 2026 at 04:05AMContrary to what you may have read in news headlines, the Great Barrier Reef is not dead—but unless greenhouse gas emissions aren’t cut dramatically, it could be within decades. Benji Jones, Vox’s environmental correspondent, spent time in Australia in December, scuba diving off the coast of Queensland to learn about a massive effort, the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, to fight the reef’s “fertility crisis” through assisted reproduction, or what people are calling coral IVF. As coral populations shrink due to rising ocean temperatures, eggs and sperm are less likely to meet naturally, so scientists collect spawn during mass breeding events and rear babies in protected pools before reseeding them onto damaged parts of the reef. Jones reports on a remarkable large-scale project, backed by nearly $300 million and more than 300 experts across over 20 institutions, but critics argue that it doesn’t address the root cause—rising global emissions—which is the one step that really matters.
Many groups involved in reef conservation have failed to reckon with this reality, even though they’re often on the front lines of climate change. During my trip, I would be on dive boats listening to biologists talk about restoration, while we burned diesel fuel and were served red meat — one of the most emissions-intensive foods. A lot of tour operators, some of whom work with RRAP, don’t talk about climate change much at all. Two of the guides who took me out on the reef even downplayed the threat of climate change to me.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2026/01/26/great-barrief-reef-conservation/
via IFTTT
Watch