New larval seedbox technology to drive coral restoration on the Great Barrier Reef
by Natalie Kikken, CSIRO
November 12, 2025
Millions of coral larvae on the Great Barrier Reef have an increased chance of replenishing degraded reefs thanks to the ‘larval seedbox’ – a coral restoration technology developed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, with Southern Cross University.
Results from the first trial of larval seedboxes have found coral settlement to be up to 56 times higher across thousands of square metres of reef.
The trial was conducted at Lizard Island in 2024 and shows strong promise for use of seedboxes in scaling up coral restoration.
As the annual mass coral spawning event takes place across the Great Barrier Reef in November, a second trial is underway in the Whitsundays, a valuable setting to test how well the technique works in a range of conditions.
Larval seedboxes act to delay the dispersal of concentrated larvae in degraded areas of reef targeted for restoration.
Dr Christopher Doropoulos, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO, said the larval seedbox is a simple, efficient and cost-effective tool to help increase coral larval survival, delay their dispersal, and find optimal habitat for settlement.
Read the Ecological Applications paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.70140