A new collaboration to monitor reefs in the Coral Triangle

Corals are threatened worldwide due to climatic and human pressure. Protecting them by monitoring and conservation action is a prime objective of the Sustainable Developing Goals and of initiatives such as the Transnational Red Sea Center of EPFL.

At ECEO, we develop technology to map and monitor coral reefs. Since 2022, we develop DeepReefMap, a deep-learning based software that can create 3D models of coral reefs from GoPro videos.

In January, we set sail to Makassar, Indonesia, to initiate a collaboration with professor Nurjannah Nurdin from Hasanuddin University, to develop a new modeling framework, tailored to the needs of the Coral Triangle and setting the stage to wide coral monitoring efforts in the region. The Coral Triangle is the most biodiverse area of the world for corals, and protecting is a priotity for us.

With three days of intensive diving, and discussions among all partners, we laid the first stone toward future collaboration.