Share
Why We Care
Restoring the ocean, one coral at a time with Titouan Bernicot, Founder and CEO of Coral Gardeners
In today’s episode I’m speaking with Titouan Bernicot, the founder & CEO of Coral Gardeners. He grew up on a pearl farm in French Polynesia, in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Whenever I’m on a call with him I’m convinced he’s using one of those fake beach backgrounds but then remember it’s actually a real backdrop. We even got interrupted by dolphins swimming past the Coral Gardeners headquarters while recording this conversation…
Titouan says that coral reefs gave him everything in his life, from the waves he surfs to the food he eats and the oxygen he breathes. So in 2017, at only 18 years old, he started Coral Gardeners to restore the reefs and plant corals. Together with his team he has already planted over 100,000 corals in French Polynesia and they have set the goal for themselves to plant one MILLION corals by 2025, all around the world.
I met him at the World Oceans Day event in New York last year and was so impressed by his positive energy and contagious hope. He knows what’s at stake but rather than letting the state of the world get him down, he turns this into meaningful action, getting people and organisations such as Rolex, Prada, Warner Bros and many more from all around the globe to join the movement and help restore healthy ocean ecosystems.
Want to dive deeper?
- Adopt a coral - https://coralgardeners.org/products/adopt-a-coral
- Follow Coral Gardeners on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coralgardeners
Come say hi!
- Titouan on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toutiess/
- Why We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/
- Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/
If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!
More episodes
View all episodes
11. Change the story, change the system with Joi Lee, Head of Editorial and Producer at Earthrise Studio
33:05||Season 2, Ep. 11In today’s episode I’m speaking with Joi Lee, the Head of Editorial and an Executive Producer at Earthrise Studio. I’m sure you’ve heard of Earthrise – they’re one of the leading media platforms reporting on climate change, launched in 2020 by Alice Aedy and Jack Harries. Over the past few years, their social media channels have become one of my go-to sources of climate related news – and I know I’m not the only one! So Joi and I spoke about how the climate crisis is being portrayed in the media, and why she thinks stories are so integral to how we communicate.She then told me about POWER, their latest series digging into the energy crisis, and how they collaborated with their community to define how they would tell that story. We also discussed the many elections coming up this year all around the world, and what you can do as an individual to ensure the fossil fuel industry loses some of its power.Want to dive deeper?Watch POWER on the Earthrise YouTube channel — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXUj6a59Wb4&ab_channel=EarthriseFollow Earthrise on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/earthrise.studio/Come say hi!Joi on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/joixleeWhy We Care on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!10. Is it too late to save our glaciers? with Dr. Heïdi Sevestre, glaciologist
50:03||Season 2, Ep. 10In today’s episode I’m speaking with Heïdi Sevestre, an amazing French glaciologist. She called me all the way from Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic ocean, between mainland Norway and the North Pole. 10 years ago, as Heidi was hiking from Chamonix to Zermatt, a mountain guide told her that it is possible to spend your life studying glaciers, and become a glaciologist. So she’s never looked back and has since studied glaciers all around the world, from the French Alps to Greenland, from the Arctic to Antarctica.We spoke about why are glaciers important and their role in regards to regulating the climate, but also what exactly is happening to them and whether or not it is too late to save them. She also told me about a climbing expedition in Greenland she recently went on called Arctic Ascent, which was filmed and is currently being released on National Geographic TV.Want to dive deeper?Heïdi’s book, “Sentinelle du Climat” (in French) — https://www.harpercollins.fr/collections/automated-collection/products/sentinelle-du-climatHeïdi’s website — https://www.heidisevestre.com/Ice & Life — https://www.iceandlife.com/index.php/en/Calculate your carbon footprint — https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/Watch Arctic Ascent — https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/arctic-ascent-with-alex-honnoldCome say hi!Heïdi on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heidisevestreWhy We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!9. Intergenerational collaboration for the ocean with Bodhi Patil, Gen Z ocean advocate and solutionist
36:45||Season 2, Ep. 9In today’s episode I’m speaking with Bodhi Patil, a United Nations-recognized, award-winning Gen Z ocean climate solutionist dedicated to improving Ocean Health and Human Health. So we spoke about many aspects of his relationship with the ocean, from his early childhood memories diving with his dad to how he helped build Ocean Uprise, an initiative he developed with Parley for the Oceans to help young people learn about the ocean and become advocates for it.I met Bodhi for the first time at COP28 in Dubai last December, where he was part of the Wisdom Keepers delegation – he told me what that experience was like and shared really beautiful thoughts and advice on how we can all support the transition towards a world where Indigenous voices are given more importance. One of my favourite things he said was how important it is to build bridges between generations and collaborate across all age groups.Want to dive deeper?Ocean Uprise - https://parley.tv/initiatives/ocean-upriseWisdom Keepers delegation - https://www.wisdomkeepersdelegation.org/Come say hi!Bodhi on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bodhi_patilWhy We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!8. Learning from and for nature with Christabel Reed, Co-Founder of Earthed and Advaya
29:43||Season 2, Ep. 8In today’s episode I’m speaking with Christabel Reed, the co-founder of two online learning platforms: advaya, and Earthed. A few years ago Christabel and her sister Ruby created advaya, a platform at the intersection of ecology, consciousness and the body, to help people heal their relationships with themselves, each other and the natural living world. They then developed and launched Earthed, a nature skills platform removing the obstacles towards a mass mobilised ecosystem restoration movement.I love that through Earthed you can access a mix of theoretical as well as very practical courses, and learn about things such as soil health, seed saving, no dig gardening, biodynamic farming and river restoration - to name a few of the many topics they cover. Their approach is that they want to empower people to learn from and for nature – which I think is exactly what the world needs! Christabel and I spoke about how she worked with her sister to create and build these platforms, the future she envisions and her hopes for humanity’s relationship with nature. I really enjoyed our conversation and I hope you will as well!Want to dive deeper?Earthed - https://www.earthed.co/advaya - https://advaya.life/Come say hi!Christabel on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/christabel_rose/Why We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!6. Nature in urban spaces: a human right? with Ellen Miles, Activist and Author of “Get Guerrilla Gardening”
41:30||Season 2, Ep. 6In today’s episode I’m speaking with Ellen Miles, guerrilla gardener, activist and author. I found out about guerrilla gardening when I first met her a few months ago - in case you haven’t heard of it yet, it means planting flowers and plants in public spaces in your neighbourhood, both to support biodiversity but also to reclaim those spaces and connect with your local community. I asked her a ton of questions about it so if you’re curious and want to learn more about guerilla gardening, you’re in the right place! She also recently wrote an entire book about it which I’ll link in the show notes in case you’d like to dig even deeper (pun completely intended). The other book she wrote is called ‘Nature is a Human Right’, another movement she started to advocate for more access to nature in our increasingly urbanised world. So we also spoke about this a little bit and how regular contact with nature is absolutely crucial for our health.Want to dig deeper?Read ‘Get Guerrilla Gardening’ - https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/ellen-miles/get-guerrilla-gardening/9780241593349Read ‘Nature is a Human Right’ - https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/ellen-miles/nature-is-a-human-right/9780241531358Ellen’s organisation, Dream Green - https://www.dreamgreen.earth/Vital Seeds - https://vitalseeds.co.uk/Come say hi!Ellen on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/octaviachillWhy We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!5. Using AI to understand and communicate with whales with Tom Mustill, Nature filmmaker and author
41:08||Season 2, Ep. 5In today’s episode I’m speaking with Tom Mustill, a nature filmmaker and the author of ‘How to Speak Whale’. We recorded this a few weeks ago but since then I actually had the chance to travel to COP28, the climate conference, and see Tom and his friend Vahakn perform a whale song bath on the beach, which was absolutely magical. He was in Dubai to help give whales a voice with Whale and Dolphin Conservation, an organisation he’s an ambassador for. Tom is really great at telling the story of why whales matter and how crucial it is for us not only to try to protect them but also to allocate more resources and focus towards the technologies that could allow us to understand them and maybe even one day, communicate with them.So we spoke about the anthropocentric approach we’ve taken to define language, and how both museums and zoos (the places most of us can easily go to to observe other species) are failing to capture behaviour and communication. We also discussed the philosophical idea of alignment within Ai (in other words, how do we teach new forms of computer intelligence to have value systems and a moral compass so they can operate within a framework that values human life and how the rest of the living world fits in.Want to dive deeper?Buy ‘How to speak whale’ - https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/tom-mustill/how-to-speak-whale/9780008363420Come say hi!Tom on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tommustill Why We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!4. Why forests are important and how ancient trees help us understand climate change with Mary Gagen, Chief Advisor on Forests at WWF UK
31:52||Season 2, Ep. 4In today’s episode I’m chatting with Mary Gagen, a Professor of Geography at Swansea University, and the Chief Advisor on Forests at WWF UK.Forests are our strongest allies in the fight against climate change, and yet we are failing them. They absorb a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, are home to 80% of the world’s land-based animal and plant species, and provide livelihoods for 1.6 billion people. Yet forests all around the world keep being destroyed despite all the global pledges and declarations to protect them. So last month, WWF UK released a report called ‘Forest Pathways’, highlighting the solutions that exist to protect and restore our forests.Mary and I spoke about the report, what it means and how she hopes it will be used. She also shared her thoughts on ancient trees and what they can tell us about climate change, and her perspective on the tension between the need for systemic change and individual action.Want to dive deeper?Read the Forest Pathways report - https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/landscapes/forests/pathways-report-summaryCome say hi!WWF UK on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/climateincolour/Why We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!3. How can technology be used in service of both nature and people with Joycelyn Longdon, Founder of Climate In Colour and PhD researcher at Cambridge University
32:04||Season 2, Ep. 3In today’s episode I’m chatting with Joycelyn Longdon, a PhD researcher at Cambridge University and the founder of Climate in Colour, an education platform dedicated to making climate conversations more accessible and diverse for the climate curious.Joycelyn works at the intersection of technology, ecology, sociology and racial justice. So there was a lot to cover in this episode! She describes bioacoustics and the technologies she works with for her PhD research as ‘Shazam for nature’, which I think is fascinating – she explained how by listening to the sounds of nature we’re able to monitor the health of ecosystems and enhance conservation work. We also spoke about the ethical implications of technology and how it can be used in service of nature and people, rather than against them. Another really important aspect of her work is participatory design, so she explained how she’s working very closely with local communities to reduce racial and climate injustice by involving them in the process, getting their insights and feedback.Want to dive deeper?Subscribe to the Climate in Colour newsletter - https://climateincolour.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=web&utm_source=subscribe-widgetWatch Joycelyn’s TED talk - https://tedxlondon.com/tedxlondon-countdown/programme/Come say hi!Climate in Colour on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/climateincolour/Joycelyn on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/joycelynlongdon/Why We Care on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whywecarepodcast/Tiphaine on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiphainemarie_/If you enjoyed the episode and want to help the podcast, I would be super grateful if you could leave a little review or share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you so much for caring and sending you lots of love!