SECORE

SECORE
Founded	2002
Founder	Rotterdam Zoo ; Dr. Dirk Petersen
Focus	Coral reef conservation
Method	research ; education ; outreach ; restoration
Key people	Dr. Dirk Petersen ; Mike Brittsan, M.Sc.
Website	http://www.secore.org

SECORE (SExual COral REproduction) is an international non-profit organization focused on coral reef conservation. The group has over sixty supporters in North America, Europe and Japan, and comprises public aquariums, institutes, and universities. Founded in 2001 at the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands, the organization has been developing methods of captive coral reproduction and preservation,^[1] citing studies that have predicted coral reefs could be extinct within decades due to climate change.^[2]

Background

Based on the coral reproduction research of Dirk Petersen at the Rotterdam Zoo (The Netherlands), SECORE was born in 2002. Petersen's findings led to innovative techniques on the use sexual coral reproduction for coral reef conservation. Established by the aquarium community and coral conservation scientists, SECORE initially focused on ex situ conservation and later as well on reef restoration (in situ conservation).

In 2004, Mike Brittsan, M.Sc., of the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium joined SECORE to take over the leading role in the USA. Over the years, both institutions, the Rotterdam Zoo and the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium – in collaboration with other organisations – started a very successful workshop program not only to train experts in the SECORE techniques, but also to bring different institutions together for a common goal – help saving the greatest marine ecosystem on our planet, the coral reef. SECORE supports excellent science in various fields, such as coral restoration, coral population genetics or coral cryopreservation.

Together with its more than 60 supporting partner institutions, SECORE reaches millions of people to spread the word about the dramatic situation of our ocean and what we can do about it. In 2018, they were subject of coverage from VICE News for their work in the coral reefs of Curaçao.^[3]