Titouan Bernicot
Founder of Coral Gardeners, regrowing reefs in French Polynesia and beyond.
Titouan Bernicot is a French Polynesian environmentalist and activist who founded Coral Gardeners, an organization dedicated to restoring coral reefs. He was recognized on the Time 100 Climate list in 2025 and the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2026.
Bernicot was born around 1998 or 1999 on a pearl farm in Ahe, a small coral atoll in the Tuamotus, French Polynesia. As a child, he loved swimming and often swam with sharks. When he was three, his family moved to Moʻorea because Ahe lacked schools. He grew up spearfishing, diving, surfing, and taking photographs. At 16, he and two friends bought a boat. While surfing, they found the coral bleached and crumbling, prompting Bernicot to research coral bleaching.
He began restoring reefs by taking and replanting coral cuttings. After dropping out of university in France, he returned to his island. In 2017, he founded Coral Gardeners with those same two friends as its first members. By 2026, the organization had 80 members.
Under Bernicot’s leadership, Coral Gardeners grows “super corals”—varieties more resilient to climate change—in nurseries before planting them on damaged reefs. The nurseries are built using recycled materials from abandoned pearl farms. The group also runs an in-house lab that develops apps, robots, and artificial intelligence. Beyond French Polynesia, the organization has launched projects in Thailand and Fiji, where actors Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon took part. A key part of their funding model is an “adopt-a-coral” program.
Bernicot has partnered with Apple, the Hugo Boss Foundation, Rolex (through its Perpetual Planet initiative), National Geographic (which has provided grants), and Prada (which plans to expand Coral Gardeners to the Mediterranean and collaborated on an educational model). He promoted the organization through a campaign featuring actress Bailey Bass and has received support from marine biologist Sylvia Earle.
He spoke at the United Nations–sponsored Young Activists Summit in 2021. He collaborated with North Sails for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection and with Billabong for a clothing line. Harper’s Bazaar named him a Voice of Now in 2023. He is also a National Geographic Explorer.
Quick Facts
- Birth Place
- Ahe, French Polynesia
- Occupation
- Environmental activist · Coral gardener
- Organization
- Founder of Coral Gardeners
- Awards
- Time 100 Climate 2025, Forbes 30 under 30 Europe 2026
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Bernicot was born on a pearl farm in Ahe, a tiny coral atoll in the Tuamotus. At age three, his family moved to Moʻorea due to the lack of schooling on Ahe. He grew up spearfishing, diving, surfing, and photographing the ocean. At 16, he and two friends bought a boat and went surfing, but discovered the coral bleached and disintegrating, prompting him to research coral bleaching. He began doing coral reef restoration by taking and replanting coral cuttings. After dropping out of university in France, he returned to his island and in 2017 created Coral Gardeners; his two friends from the boat trip became the first members. As of 2026, the organization had 80 members.
Reader's Guide
Under Bernicot's leadership, Coral Gardeners grows super corals—more resilient to climate change—in nurseries built from recycled items from abandoned pearl farms, then plants them in damaged reefs. The organization has an in-house research lab creating apps, robots, and an artificial intelligence program. Beyond French Polynesia, Bernicot initiated projects in Thailand and Fiji, where Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon participated. A key business model aspect is an 'adopt-a-coral' program. He has partnered with Apple Inc., the Hugo Boss Foundation, Rolex through their Perpetual Planet initiative, National Geographic (which provided grants), and Prada (which announced expansion to the Mediterranean and collaborated on an educational model). He advertised Coral Gardeners through a campaign starring Bailey Bass and has been supported by Sylvia Earle. He spoke at the United Nations–sponsored Young Activists Summit in 2021, collaborated with North Sails for their Spring/Summer 2023 collection, and partnered with Billabong for a clothing collection. He was named a Voice of Now by Harper's Bazaar in 2023.
Did You Know?
- Bernicot was born on a pearl farm in the tiny coral atoll of Ahe in the Tuamotus.
- At age 16, he and two friends discovered bleached and disintegrating coral while surfing, which led him to research coral bleaching.
- Coral Gardeners uses recycled items from abandoned pearl farms to build its nurseries.
- He was named to the Time 100 Climate in 2025 and to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe in 2026.
More in Coral Reefs, Part 3 1-23
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced