Why we chose Chris as a Fellow

Chris LaFranchi has been working as a conservation economist in marine protection for more than 15 years, and in the Pacific region for the past 5 years. With his deep technical knowledge of the field, Chris started OneReef to protect endangered reefs in the Pacific.

Coral reefs are the world's oldest biological communities. For millions of years these hugely productive ecosystems have been home to an incredible variety of marine life. Despite only occupying about 1% of global oceans, they are home to around 25% of all marine species. But in the past century, we've destroyed half of them. OneReef uses a simple model that can be replicated across regions in the Pacific: we find reefs, identify stakeholders who want to protect that reef, involve the community to create a plan for protection, provide the funding to implement that plan, and verify protection and monitor on-going ecological resilience