On Friday 15 August, like-minded individuals gathered for the fifth-annual Sapphire Dinner. It's a moment to celebrate and raise awareness for the Sapphire Project: A Tiffany & Co-supported initiative dedicated to protecting our oceans.
To date, the Sapphire Project has raised over $5 million for ocean conservation, donating it across groups like The Great Southern Reef Foundation, Seadragon Conservation and of course, The Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
It's hardly a secret that the Great Barrier Reef faces an existential threat. Rising sea temperatures and pollution have damaged the Reef immensely. The threat of losing this natural wonder of the world grows with every passing year. Most recently, in 2024, a marine heatwave caused a mass-coral bleaching event which decimated coral cover by up to 30 per cent in some areas of the Reef. Stack that on top of the litany of other issues facing the Reef and you can see why it requires this sort of an intervention.
These constant threats to the Reef's survival splashing across global headlines could make one feel despondent. After all, it's easy to feel nihilistic when you hear reports about its current state and ongoing deterioration. But consistent funding – like that provided by the Sapphire Project – has led to discoveries that are creating genuine hope for the future.
At the centre of this conversation is Hayley Baillie: Sapphire co-chair and director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. By her own admission, the Reef is in rough shape. "[It has] suffered terribly over the last number of years of repeated conflict events.” But as both an advocate for and practitioner of Reef conservation, she's no fatalist.
She explains that there's cause for hope: the Reef is vast. The Great Barrier Reef is enormous, comparable to the size of Italy, and while parts have indeed been devastated, other areas remain “absolutely mind-blowing". She says its now her job to ensure the latter doesn't turn into the former.
Deploying heat-resistant coral to build a 'tougher' Reef
One of the most promising breakthroughs the Sapphire Project has supported is the development of heat-resistant corals. It is, Baillie admits, a response to reality rather than wishful thinking. “We have to be realists,” she explains.
Rising sea temperatures are unavoidable, and some coral species simply won’t survive them. "We need to look at species that can handle higher sea temperatures so it's [replanting efforts are] not just a complete waste of time," she said.
The science here is pragmatic: identify coral species resilient to higher temperatures, propagate them, and use them to repopulate damaged reef areas.
It is not an admission of defeat, but rather a new strategy for survival.
In Baillie’s words, “We have to be on the forefront… Which corals can handle the warmer temperatures? Because… it’s the reality.”
These corals buy the Reef time. They are not a permanent solution, but they hold the line against a now-hostile climate. Baillie and her team live in hope that the bleaching events will eventually pass into memory. And that by the time they do, there's still some coral left to help repopulate.
Creating 'coral nurseries' to supercharge new growth
Survival is one part of the equation. Scale is the other. Here, Baillie points to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s coral nursery project, where restoration becomes industrialised.
"This is probably the most exciting thing that's happening with the Great Barrier Reef foundation currently. It's what we've raised funds towards," said Baillie
It's a simple invention that pays huge dividends for the Reef. Using repurposed shipping containers, scientists capture coral spawn, nurture larvae on ceramic tiles, and raise them until they are strong enough to be transplanted back onto degraded reefs. From there, they take root, slowly re-colouring once-barren stretches of ocean.
“One shipping container could produce more than what we’re currently producing now globally,” she says.
Crucially, this system is designed to be portable. A container in Queensland can become a blueprint for Fiji, Palau, or any island nation where reefs are at threat – particularly in communities that rely on reefs for food security.
The technology isn’t just about saving the Great Barrier Reef; it’s about seeding resilience across the tropics. And it's self-sustaining, a solution designed to be managed by communities for community.
"It's now about scaling it up and then being led by the community," said Baillie. "They [the scientists from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation] show the community how to operate it, and then the communities can be self-sustaining."
Funding the Reef's retrofit – but combatting climate change is the true answer
As with all things, it's money that powers the engine of reef restoration.
Right now, less than two per cent of all giving in Australia goes toward environmental causes. And as it drips down, only a fraction of that reaches the ocean.
The Sapphire Project fills a gap many governments and institutions leave open, raising over $5 million across 15 organisations to date.
Without this kind of funding, many of the most promising interventions for the Reef would remain stuck in the lab, too small to matter against the scale of destruction.
When I started writing about the work of the Sapphire Project, I interviewed Dr Anne Hoggert, head of the Lizard Island Research Station. I asked what it would take to truly put our oceans in a healthy place. She answered resolutely: "cut carbon emissions severely." Because carbon emissions don't just warm the planet, they change the pH of the ocean too.
Baillie vehemently agreed. "It would solve so many problems," she said. "Almost any environmental problem we face would be mitigated by dropping carbon emissions."
The true tragedy of the matter is that our oceans are the world's largest carbon sink. The ocean clears more carbon from the air than all the rainforests combined. Unless we take ocean conservation seriously, we risk our ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere and accelerate the effects of climate change.
Tackling climate change is a move that will require all of us to rethink our choices but more importantly vote in the best interests of our future.
