Author: Biosphere Expeditions

For wildlife, not profit Our planet is in crisis, with nature under attack like never before. We believe everyone has the power to change this. We are mindful of nature and empower people through citizen science and hands-on wildlife conservation. We are a non-profit, visionary, award-winning and ethical conservation organisation. We are a member of the IUCN and the UN's Environment Programme. Working hand-in-hand with local biologists and communities, we champion change and protect nature. And we succeed - the creation of protected areas on four continents is just one example. Come and join us! Make your holiday time count and share in our vision of a healthier planet. Whatever your age or background, make your voice heard and spend a week or more on a wildlife conservation expedition with us. Travel with us to remote and beautiful places, learn new skills, meet like-minded people from around the world and experience conservation in action. Together - for nature, not profit - let's act like our world depends on it. Because it does.
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Coral reef conservation Maldives 2026: Quiet joy

Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition

Three people diving over a coral reef
Reef and Reef Checkers

The last slates have been scrubbed clean, the transect lines coiled away, and the hum of the compressor has finally fallen silent. Our Reef Check surveys for 2026 have drawn to a close.

As grey clouds race across the horizon and our boat is rocked by waves and wind, our Reef Check findings leave us with a bittersweet feeling: the reefs are holding out better than we had dared to hope. Against the odds, the blue depths still pulse with life, displaying a stubborn resilience in the face of warming seas, overfishing, over-development and just too much human impact. It is a moment of quiet joy of an unexpectedly positive result.

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Coral reef conservation Maldives 2026: Rhythm

Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition

Four people diving over a coral reef
Reef and Reef Checkers

We are now fully into our Reef Check rhythm, swaying side to side on our liveaboard, blue above and below, broken by gleaming sand, the odd palm tree and the relentless pace of resort overdevelopment all around.

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Coral reef conservation Maldives 2026: Corallimorphs

Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition

A diver with a slate above a reef
Checking that reef along the transect line

One day later and almost everyone is now a Reef Check EcoDiver. Well done! So off we went to a site in the north of Kaalo Atoll to check on a reef that we had not looked at for over a decade.

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Coral reef conservation Maldives 2026: Mind dump & stewardship

Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition

Group of people sitting in a liveaboard lobby
Teaching session

It’s day 2 of our coral reef conservation expedition to the Maldives. All bar one (whose flight was re-routed mid-air) are here and learning to distinguish reef substrate (such as hard coral, sponge, sand, silt, rubble, soft coral and more) as I type this. There will be more about fish, invertebrates and coral damage and disease – in and out of the water – as we go through this mind dump day.

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Coral reef conservation Maldives 2026: Last year and Saturday

Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition

Two divers on a coral reef
Surveying a reef in 2025

As our 2026 team prepares to gather in Malé for the start of our 2026 expedition this Saturday, we have been reviewing the detailed findings from our 2025 survey season. Our 13th annual survey report highlights the complex realities facing coral reef conservation Maldives.

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Coral reef conservation Maldives 2026: 15th expedition year!

Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition

Four divers, a reef and a white transect tape
A team surveying a reef along a 100 m transect tape

This October, Biosphere Expeditions will run its 15th Maldives expedition. This continues our long-standing citizen-science project in the Maldives, focusing on coral reef health through hands-on volunteer expeditions. Since 2011, these marine surveys have been an important constant of local reef conservation, blending scientific rigour, citizen science and immersive adventure.

I am Matthias Hammer, founder and CEO of Biosphere Expeditions, and I will also be your expedition leader.

Dr. Matthias Hammer giving a talk
Dr. Matthias Hammer
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Landmark Global Report Highlights Coral Decline: Biosphere Expeditions Demands End to Positive Spin and Calls for Ecological Triage

Media release – 13 October 2026

A colourful reef
Coral reefs (like this one in the Maldives) are under threat world-wide.

Data collected by Biosphere Expeditions in Oman, the Maldives, Malaysia and Honduras contributes to the world’s most comprehensive assessment of coral health, exposing shrinking recovery windows and escalating degradation.

A major global report on the state of the world’s coral reefs underlines the severe, escalating pressure facing marine ecosystems worldwide, confirming that decades of climate stress have pushed coral ecosystems into continuous decline. The Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025 report, published by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), synthesises decades of underwater research to map trends in coral cover, disturbance and degradation.

Among the key data providers feeding into this global baseline is the international wildlife conservation non-profit Biosphere Expeditions, whose citizen science participants have systematically surveyed reefs using standard Reef Check protocols in Oman, the Maldives, Malaysia and Honduras.

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Wildlife volunteering Malawi 2026: Farewell

Update from our wildlife volunteering Malawi expedition

Group 2

Our expedition has come to an end. Thank you to all citizen scientists and partners from LWT. Here are some early results. Final ones will be in the expedition report once Lea and the LWT researchers have processed and analysed all the data and pictures.

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Wildlife conservation Malawi 2026: Hippos

Update from our wildlife conservation Malawi expedition

Hippos in the water
Hippos in the water

The temperature has been steadily climbing as we move deeper into the dry season. It is hot! Lake Kazuni is showing obvious signs of water loss as levels drop. And the distance between the lake road and the water’s edge is growing significantly each day. This means less space for each hippo family and results in some of them moving further west and outside our transect. Interestingly, daily counts remain similar, which suggests that lower water levels help our research by revealing more individuals.

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African biodiversity conservation Malawi 2026: Elephants

Update from our African biodiversity conservation Malawi expedition

Elephants walking through a lake
Where have they gone?

It’s been five days now since we saw any elephants out in the open. They seem to have altered their habit of coming by camp in the afternoon, taking a bath in the river close by and feeding on their favourite trees behind the staff tents.

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