IEF member profile: Austin Bowden-Kerby

Long-time IEF member Austin Bowden-Kerby PhD in Fiji has provided a recent update on his activities. As one of the pioneers of coral reef restoration by replanting corals on damaged reefs, he runs Corals for Conservation (https://www.corals4conservation.org), including preparing a 22 minute summary of climate change adaptation strategies at https://youtu.be/arkeSGXfKMk and giving a TEDx talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRLJ8zDm0U. His latest project is an emergency response to massive coral bleaching.

He also runs the Teitei Livelihoods Centre in Fiji (http:/www.teiteifiji.org) including permaculture training, a happy chickens for food security project, and other activities to provide sustainable environmental livelihoods for local people (http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-l…). He has been training local people and assisting with similar projects in other island countries including Kiribati, Tuvalu, Samoa, Vanuatu and French Polynesia. Some videos on his work will be released next year.

He gave a long presentation on Island Communities, Coral Reefs, and Climate Change at the ABS Agriculture working Group and they have posted it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ0dJhUDPX4. His many years of persistence across the Pacific and even in the Caribbean are now producing results of direct benefit to local communities.