JNF-USA Partners with IOLR to Push Coral Restoration Forward
In 2016, Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF) gave IOLR a $100K grant for coral restoration research. NAF donors added another $50K to the same cause, lifting the 2016 total to $150K. That funding supports a full year of the “Reefs of Tomorrow” project, proposed by IOLR-NIO principal investigator Prof. Buki Rinkevich, a coral specialist known around the world.
NAF-IOLR and Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF) have raised funds together for coral restoration research since 2008. JNF-USA runs a wide range of environmental projects in Israel focused on restoration and sustainable development, and IOLR is recognized as an Israeli partner organization of JNF. Through this partnership, JNF backs efforts to improve Eilat’s Red Sea coral reefs, a major tourist destination under heavy strain. JNF’s broader restoration work also includes bringing wetlands back to life in the Hula Valley, replanting Carmel forests with native species, and restoring the Besor River system in the northern Negev.
The “Reefs of Tomorrow” project sets out to assemble a practical toolkit of techniques for ecological engineering of coral reefs. Prof. Rinkevich seeks to rebuild sustainable reefs through improved coral aquaculture (farming) and transplantation methods, spanning the molecular, cellular, whole-organism and ecosystem levels. He wrote: “I believe that the future of reef biodiversity depends not only on what is left or what can be saved, but also on what can be recreated from what is left.” With backing from a leading NGO partner like JNF, IOLR and Prof. Rinkevich are better positioned to move the science forward until large-scale active reef restoration can begin reversing the decline of Israel’s Red Sea coral reefs and reefs elsewhere in the world.
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This partnership shows how targeted funding can move coral science from the lab toward real-world restoration. By combining JNF-USA’s support with NAF donor contributions, IOLR researchers can keep developing the aquaculture and transplantation methods behind “Reefs of Tomorrow” and work toward healthier reefs in Eilat and beyond.