New Climate Action Documentary on Coral Restoration

Kuleana Coral Restoration (KCR), the first Native Hawaiian-led nonprofit dedicated exclusively to coral reef restoration, is featured in a new documentary, Reef Builders, which highlights community-driven efforts to reverse the impacts of climate change on coral reefs in Hawaiʻi, Africa, Australia and Southeast Asia.

The film’s worldwide release was April 14 on Amazon Prime. It can be streamed for free.

Founded in 2019, KCR is the passion project of co-founders Alika Peleholani Garcia and Kapono Kaluhiokalani – both longtime fishermen, firefighters and ocean stewards – and Daniel Demartini, Ph.D., a biochemist and assistant professor at BYU-Lāʻie who serves as director of science for the nonprofit.

Together, the team launched KCR in response to the visible decline of Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs – ecosystems that are among the first, and hardest hit, by climate change. Their mission is to restore, protect, and monitor these ecosystems by combining cultural values, modern science and meaningful community partnerships.

“As fishermen, we saw the changes firsthand. We wanted to be part of the solution – not just observe the decline,” said Garcia. “This work is our kuleana.”

Operating across the island of Oʻahu (with supporting partner communities on Maui), KCR restores degraded reef systems using techniques such as direct coral reattachment and pilot-scale reef stabilization. One technique featured on the documentary is the use of “reef stars” – rebar structures coated with local sand onto which broken – but living – coral fragments are tied and placed back onto the reef to regenerate and grow.

These tools help corals grow faster, survive, and recover from stressors like warming seas and stronger storm swells, both directly linked to climate change.

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With a focus on developing capacity in the next generation to continue this work, KCR’s Coral Occupational Applications and Scientific Techniques (COAST) training program was developed in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. It offers rigorous site-based, hands-on training in coral restoration and scientific diving, integrating ʻike Hawaiʻi and cutting-edge western science.

COAST is designed to create meaningful career pathways in conservation for Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and residents of the moku of ʻEwa and Waiʻanae: communities typically underrepresented in the field of marine science. Garcia notes that by investing in emerging local leadership, “KCR is growing Hawaiʻi’s climate resilience from the inside out.”

KCR is also supported by the Sheba Hope Grows campaign, one of the world’s largest corporate-backed coral reef restoration initiatives. Sheba Hope Grows is part of Mars Sustainable Solutions (MSS), the environmental sustainability subsidiary of Mars, Inc.

Since its restoration efforts began in 2011, MSS has established 72 reef restoration sites in 12 countries. Utilizing their Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MARRS), they have installed over 90,000 reef stars and outplanted more than 1.3 million corals worldwide.

The program aims to restore over 185,000 square meters of coral reefs globally by 2029, assisting oceanic and coastal communities living on the front lines of climate change to rebuild these vital ecosystems.

Reef Builders showcases the people behind these efforts, including Garcia, Kaluhiokalani and Demartini, who all appear in the documentary, alongside actor and environmental advocate Auliʻi Cravalho, star of Disney’s Moana. Cravalho is an associate producer of the documentary and is shown helping KCR to construct and install its first reef stars.

The world premiere of Reef Builders was held in London, England, on April 9, followed by its Hawaiʻi premiere on April 14 at a gala event hosted by KCR at Ko ʻOlina.