Coralisma

Do you want to save the oceans? Want to make an ACTUAL difference?

Embark on this mission with us, make a difference as ocean stewards!

Hello! Our names are Marina Garmendia and Isabela Rios, and together we created Coralisma. Coralisma is a non-profit project dedicated to the restoration, preservation, and education of coral reefs in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. As of March of 2020, Coralisma has restored over 1,300 corals onto the reefs of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The work we've done over these past two years has been fantastic; however, to make a difference our work must continue. 

What Coralisma has done: 

In December 2018 we planted the first coral tree nursery in Mexico. Our nursery contains 10 structures and can hold up to 600 coral fragments. All pictures of our nursery on PowerPoints linked below (All pictures are taken by Franseca Reina, an essential volunteer ).

Since then we have out-planted the nursery-grown corals as well as INAPESCA’s aquacultured corals.  Around 1,300 corals were restored, including the species Arcopora cervicornis, Acropora palmata, Porites astreoides, and Pseudodiploria clivosa, using both fragmentation and micro-fragmentation methods. We restored two important reefs in Playa del Carmen (Chun-zumbul and Shangri-la), while working alongside with INAPESCA (CRIAP Puerto Morelos) in their restoration project: “Reproducción y siembra de corales en el arrecife mesoamericano- Programa de restauración de arrecifes y coral, Región Norte: Contoy-Tulum, 2017-2022”.  Working along Dr. Claudia Padilla under INAPESCA who is aiming to outplant 260 thousand corals back onto the Mexican reefs by 2022.

If you have donated in the past our powerpoints contain various pictures of the work that YOU assisted with. If you want more information or pictures please contact us, contact info at the end of the page. 

Why we need YOUR help: 

Our objective is to continue restoring and conserving our oceans. We want to do this in the best, most environmentally friendly way. However, proper materials are expensive. Therefore, we created this gofundme as a fundraiser for the needed equipment. Corals are the base of the oceans and they need our help! We are grateful for ANY amount of money you are willing to donate

How can you help: 

Any donation is a fantastic donation!

We are looking for any type of support. If this project motivates you and you want to dive deeper into it, we are also in search of Scuba diving volunteers. How can YOU volunteer? It’s easy! We have partnered with Francesca Reina, a local dive instructor in Playa del Carmen, to help in the maintenance of our nursery. If you are interested in
volunteering sign up at:

https://www.onedropmexico.com/coralisma .

For more information go to the PowerPoint linked at the end of the page. Our corals will only be healthy if people care and maintain them. Please embark on this mission with us and be a helping hand in restoring our oceans. Your participation in this restoration will make an everlasting difference in our oceans.


Who is Coralisma: 



For more detailed information about Coralisma go to the links below: 

Powerpoint English version:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vS1BMKLH60P7kjJ9x8a4komfi3PlLRfTiTSYMq--6bCjp_vPSP0MpnsDFu59BWRz3v1gOnidia7e0Xl/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000

Powerpoint en Español:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTWCr8Fz3ruwiDYkUyI5PXkBIO7TGg6xv3RBLWD6Rayy2k03TCq7MHmHvrYiVis1OxrPwaA-9Bza9CD/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000

Contact Coralisma: 

Email: [email redacted]
Instagram: coralisma_mx
Facebook: @coralisma_mx


Interesting Coral Reef papers: 

Heterotrophy in tropical scleractinian corals 
        - Fanny Houlbrèque 1, Christine Ferrier-Pagès
        - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2008.00058.x

Assessing the ‘deep reef refugia’ hypothesis: focus on Caribbean reefs 
        - P. Bongaerts, T. Ridgway, E. M. Sampayo & O. Hoegh-Guldberg 
         - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-009-0581-x

Heterotrophic plasticity and resilience in bleached corals 
        - Andréa G. Grottoli, Lisa J. Rodrigues & James E. Palardy 
        - https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04565

Energetics approach to predicting mortality risk from environmental stress: a case study of coral bleaching 
        - Kenneth R. N. Anthony  Mia O. Hoogenboom  Jeffrey A. Maynard  Andréa G. Grottoli  Rachael Middlebrook
        - https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01531.x

Reef of last resort: Locating and assessing thermal refugia in the wider caribbean 
        - Iliana Chollett, Peter J. Mumby 
         - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000632071300284X