BRANCH Foundation accelerates the growth of healthy, resilient coral reefs. Instead of only replanting coral, BRANCH strengthens the algae that live inside coral and that determine how well coral copes with heat. This algae science is combined with self-built, fully automated growing systems.
Agriculture & Soil
BRANCH Foundation is a young Dutch foundation, established in July 2024, born from a simple conviction: coral reefs are declining so fast that restoration alone is not enough. During their time in the Caribbean, the founders saw firsthand how quickly reefs disappear, and set out to find an approach that works faster and at greater scale.
Its mission is to accelerate the growth of healthy and resilient coral reefs by combining scientific research with scalable technology. As the first NGO in the world to do so, BRANCH focuses not on the coral itself, but on the symbiotic algae that live inside it. By making those algae more heat-tolerant, many coral species become more resilient at once.
Core activities:
developing heat-tolerant algae that help coral cope with warmth (adaptation)
building fully automated, scalable growing systems (innovation)
working with scientific partners such as AIMS and Wageningen University & Research
sharing knowledge so local teams worldwide can grow climate-resilient coral
What began as an idea on paper is now living coral in a working system. BRANCH is building towards a network of nurseries across the world.
Coral reefs are among the most valuable and at the same time most vulnerable ecosystems on earth. Worldwide they stand at a critical tipping point.
Coral bleaches as the ocean warms. Coral lives together with tiny algae that give it colour and energy. When the ocean warms, that partnership breaks down, the coral turns white and eventually dies.
Traditional restoration is too slow. Most methods adapt species by species or replant coral by hand in the sea. This is valuable, but hard to scale, while the decline itself is happening very fast.
The consequences reach far. Reefs hold a large share of all life in the sea and protect coasts from storms and erosion. Millions of people depend on them for food and income. If the reefs disappear, both nature and these communities are put at risk.
To give reefs a chance, restoration has to be faster and smarter. That is what BRANCH focuses on.
When you shop as usual through Terry, part of the shop's marketing budget goes to BRANCH Foundation, as a donation and at no extra cost to you.
Your contribution helps to:
research heat-tolerant algae that help coral survive the warming ocean
further develop the automated growing systems
scale up climate-resilient coral, together with scientific partners
share knowledge so local teams worldwide can get to work
These two tracks, stronger algae and smarter growing systems, are exactly how BRANCH aims to make reefs more resilient worldwide. So with an ordinary purchase you help build coral that can handle the ocean of tomorrow.
In this way you support not a single reef, but an approach that can give reefs around the world a better future.
2025 was the year BRANCH moved from plan to practice. In a pilot setup, a fully automated, land-based coral system ran with living coral for the first time, donated by Wageningen University & Research. By the end of the year the system was running at around 70 percent of capacity.
The approach is grounded in science. BRANCH works with AIMS in Australia, a pioneer in the evolution of heat-tolerant algae, and with Wageningen University & Research. A multi-year grant made possible a PhD research project into algae that pass their heat tolerance on to the next generation of coral.
The next step is in Kenya. Together with partner REEFolution and Wageningen, BRANCH is developing The Arc, the first site to bring this technique from the lab into practice. If that model works, it becomes a blueprint that can be followed worldwide. Meanwhile the work gained wider recognition, including several awards at the Bold Impact Awards.
Supporting through Terry is a great first step. Want to do even more? You can also:
Donate directly to BRANCH Foundation through their website.
Follow BRANCH and share their story, so more people give coral a voice.
A student or researcher? Explore the collaborations with universities and colleges.
Come by: the nursery in the Netherlands serves as a showroom with tours and education.
BRANCH Foundation is a non-profit foundation with ANBI status, established in 2024 and based in the Netherlands (chamber of commerce 94545723, RSIN 866815922). Thanks to its ANBI status, your donation is tax-deductible in the Netherlands. The foundation serves the public interest and makes no distributions to its founders or board. The board consists of Maarten van der Kuijl, Maarten van Aalst, Stan Overwijn and Jasper Rijk, supported by an advisory council with expertise in fundraising, marine biology and process technology. The work is carried out together with partners including AIMS and Wageningen University & Research.
Your contribution goes to the work of BRANCH: research into heat-tolerant algae and the development of climate-resilient coral. The foundation publishes an annual report and financial statements every year.
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