Dee Dee Vaughan Smause, co-founder and Director of Development and Communication of Plant a Million Corals, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the program.
What is the mission of Plant a Million Corals?
Smause said, “We are a locally based coral restoration organization here in Summerland Key at our farm. We are a land based coral restoration organization, which means we do all of our nursery work on land in tanks before the corals get out planted. All of the corals produced at our facility remain on the Florida Reef track, with the majority of them being in the Florida Keys. We’re real proud to share that we’ve already produced 50,000 corals that will all be out on the reef, and are working our way towards bigger numbers, as our name suggests. We are in the final stages of construction of our first formal greenhouse. What’s exciting about that is that will give us an additional coral production capacity of up to 100,000 corals. So we’re really getting closer and closer to those numbers. In fact, an additional a second greenhouse has already been funded through a wonderful grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. So we’re really looking to make Summerland Key the both local and international hub for coral restoration. We also do workshops where we train practitioners on the professional level how to do land based coral restoration. We’ve trained over 100 students through our program both here and internationally, and we also build coral restoration units, which are transportable versions of our land based nursery that fits into a shipping container, which is then designed and customized for receiving organizations around the world, to be able to do coral restoration.”
Fundraising is a big effort at Plant a Million Corals and a fundraiser is coming up.
Smause said, “My New Joint is opening their doors early for us on August 16, at 2pm where we’re doing our real fun Uncorking Hope event. This is our third year doing this. Lynn Bell has been such an incredible supporter of Plant a Million Corals, along with her wonderful team, we will have live music as well as a wine tasting with delicious paired bites. We’re also going to have a great silent auction, lots of local and national artists, gift certificates, a great way to treat yourself while supporting coral restoration. When you join us, you’ll be hearing about all of our efforts, both locally and abroad, some of our expansion going on at the farm, ways to get involved. Our facility is open to the public for tours, all free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 to 4 and then on weekends by appointment.”
Are there other organizations worldwide that are doing restoration to the extent that’s being done here?
Smause said, “So what makes plan a million corals a little different and really the impetus for us founding the organization is to focus on making coral restoration affordable, accessible and scalable. There are quite a few organizations, both locally and around the world, that are doing extremely well done research, and our goal is to really take that research and put it into practical application. So for example, our facility is not only an example of the potential for large scale production, but also training. So our goal is to really bring the cost for coral down by using that economy of scale. We’re very fortunate to have Dr. David Vaughn as our founder and lead scientist. He also happens to be my father, and he’s the scientist that discovered a technology called micro fragmentation, where we can grow corals 25 to 40 times faster than they normally would grow simply by taking advantage of some of their natural healing responses. This technology is not unique to us, and simply for the fact that we have trained people from all over the world how to do so, we’re real proud to say that this technology is being used all over the world, and Dave has even been recognized as the inventor, and they like to say the father of micro fragmentation, including with the great honor of being memorialized on the Great Barrier Reef with a statue as part of the Museum of Underwater Art, as one of the eight ocean sentinels that were recognized there.”
For more information, click here: https://plantamillioncorals.org/