Kiwa at ICRS 2026: Pacific voices at the 16th International Coral Reef Symposium
Auckland, 19-24 July 2026
The 16th International Coral Reef Symposium opened in Auckland on 19 July, running for six days at the New Zealand International Convention Centre. Held every four years by the International Coral Reef Society, ICRS is one of the largest global gatherings for coral reef science, conservation and management. It brings together researchers, marine managers, NGOs and decision-makers.
This is the first time the symposium has come to Aotearoa New Zealand. Sitting the event next to the Pacific Islands opens more room for customary knowledge and community-led management, which rarely take centre stage at meetings of this size. The 2026 theme, “Working together to ensure a future for coral reefs”, points the same way.
Two Kiwa-funded projects are in the room: MiCOAST, working across Micronesia, and Kiwa RESTORE, working in Samoa and across the Pacific.
MiCOAST brings the Micronesian experience
Simon Ellis (MERIP), Keoni Kattil (Marshall Islands Conservation Society) and Martin Romain (OneReef Worldwide Stewardship) represent the Kiwa MiCOAST project in Auckland, with other project partners. Their poster (board 270) makes the case for community-based fisheries management (CBFM) as a Nature-based Solution, with examples from the Marshall Islands, Pohnpei (FSM) and beyond.
MiCOAST is led by OneReef Worldwide Stewardship and runs through a network of non-governmental organisations across Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Nauru. The people it sent to Auckland come from that field network, the ones who work on the islands with the communities.
Each is taking something home. Simon Ellis returns with new insights on emerging coral restoration techniques and ideas to adapt his work in Pohnpei. For Keoni Kattil, a first international conference, and a set of new connections to raise the profile of MICS. Martin Romain leaves with lessons from regional practitioners on community-owned reef management, ideas to strengthen MiCOAST’s approach across Micronesia, and a wider network of collaborators.
Samoa: Kiwa RESTORE on culture and science
Su’a Ulusapeti Tiitii, Kiwa RESTORE’s Samoa Project Manager at Conservation International, presented on 21 July. Her talk, “Culturally Grounded Marine Management: Evidence from the Kiwa RESTORE Project & Pacific Case Studies”, sat in a session on how local and Indigenous knowledge is shaping reef conservation and fisheries management across the Pacific.
Her argument was practical. In Samoa, marine conservation is not new. Long before Western regulations, villages managed their own reefs through Fa’asamoa, the traditional governance system, setting tapu areas where fishing stopped so fish and coral could recover.
Kiwa RESTORE builds on that. The project works with 15 coastal communities across three districts to review and develop Village Fisheries Management Plans, pairing traditional village rules with scientific monitoring of fish stocks, coral cover and reef health. Ulusapeti Tiitii also pointed to Fiji’s Lau Seascape Initiative, where an island-representative team leads local conservation with the backing of Lau’s customary chiefs.
Her takeaway for the room:
“While Pacific Island communities have much to contribute to the global conversation, there is also much to learn from innovative restoration approaches, emerging science and international partnerships that can further strengthen locally led conservation efforts.” Think globally, act locally.
Why Kiwa follows this event
The Kiwa Initiative funds Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation in the Pacific. Coral reefs are the front line. They break the swell, they feed villages, and they are degrading faster than we can adapt.
ICRS is where coral reef science and field management meet. Sending people from the Pacific, not only scientists, changes what that conversation sounds like.
