A few words
About Us
History
Our story starts in 1999, after the global coral bleaching event of 1998.
Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) was established in 1999 as a regional research network in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) focused on coral reef science. Its formation was originally spurred by the global coral bleaching event of 1998.
Registered as a non-profit organisation in Kenya in 2003, CORDIO has grown over the past two decades (see below) into a leading centre for coastal marine and ocean science and conservation in East Africa and the wider WIO region.
1999: CORDIO is founded with a focus on supporting and building capacity for coral reef monitoring in the Western Indian Ocean and South Asia.
2003: Registration of CORDIO East Africa as a Kenyan non-profit organisation.
2006: Transition from Sida (Sweden) dominated funding to multiple donors and to regional research projects; transition in CORDIO coordination from Sweden to Mombasa, and of geographic focus to the Western Indian Ocean.
2007 – 2012: Expansion with addition of Co-Director, and shift of focus to regional research on coral reef climate resilience and biogeography, threatened species and fisheries research and capacity-building with fishing communities.
2013 – 2018: Institutional strengthening through establishing Advisory Board; increased leadership roles in regional and global initiatives (Northern Mozambique Channel, multiple IUCN groups, SDG14, blue economy and ocean governance).
2019-2020: Institutional growth through larger grants (Norad, IKI-IUCN), expansion of research and management staffing, end of 2016-2020 Strategic Plan coinciding with major decadal policy processes (CBD, SDG, UN Decade).