In August, the Florida Aquarium entered a bilateral agreement with Cuba’s National Aquarium in Havana, forming a mutually beneficial partnership aimed at working together on marine issues. Efforts to protect and preserve coral reefs were made a priority in the collaboration.

With less than 250 miles (400km) separating the two attractions, the Florida Aquarium believes studying Cuba’s underwater ecosystem – where the reefs are in far better condition – will help with the coral restoration process in the Florida Keys archipelago. In return, the Tampa Bay aquarium will share with the National Aquarium of Cuba (NAC) what it has learned about restoring coral reefs and growing coral in a controlled setting.

The aquariums agreed the partnership in 2014, deciding to keep a simple focus on education, research and conservation.

“It’s an opportunity to work with an aquarium that shares the exact same environment,” says Margo McKnight, vice president of biological operations at the Florida Aquarium. “Cuba has done a really great job protecting its reefs and that’s what we’re most interested in – Cuba’s ecosystems are in much better shape, whereas we are trying to restore ours.

“Observing Cuba’s reefs and collecting data on the biodiversity present on these healthy reefs will help us recreate the reefs in the Florida Keys. It’s like rolling back time – a snapshot of what our reefs likely looked like,” says McKnight.

The Florida Aquarium works with the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), as well as other groups, planting fast-growing staghorn coral in the Keys. Monitoring the species and ecosystem in Cuba – which is famed for its Jardines de la Reina (Garden of the Queens) National Park in the southern waters off the provinces of Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila – will help the Florida mission focus its efforts to rebuild a productive and healthy reef.

“The Florida Aquarium is taking an active and progressive position on protecting and restoring coral reefs,” says Ken Nedimyer, founder and president of the CRF. “They are involved in some progressive research aimed at finding actionable solutions to some of the key problems on coral reefs.”

“Cuba has been exposed to the same big problems and events that have degraded most of the rest of the Caribbean – sea urchin loss, overfishing, coral diseases and bleaching, inadequate sewage treatment, poor storm water management, agricultural run-off and hurricanes – so I think the Florida Aquarium can bring the right balance of research, solutions and action to some of the problems facing Cuba’s coral reef ecosystems,” says Nedimyer.

With Cuba and the US making historic moves to normalise their relationship, more and more people are going to be visiting the island nation. Conservationists are pressing for responsible tourism that won’t have a negative impact on Cuba’s ecosystems. Aquariums can provide programmes directed at educating visitors about this – and even encouraging them to play a part.

Fernando Bretos, director for Cuba marine research and conservation at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Florida, has been working with the NAC for over 10 years on coral reef and sea turtle conservation.

“Through exhibits and outreach programs, aquariums can introduce the public to the benefits of coral restoration,” Bretos says. “They also stand in a unique position to empower their constituents to get involved in coral restoration as citizen scientists. For all its value for restoring underwater ecosystems, coral restoration is limited by the number of volunteer divers that get involved in planting corals. In other words, the more volunteers involved, the more coral can be restored.”

The science of coral restoration has seen success in Florida, and by working in partnership the two aquariums will be able to share more information and cover more ground. With an influx of American tourists on the horizon, McKnight is optimistic that Cuba will be able to learn from environmental mistakes made elsewhere in the world, “rolling back time, but knowing what we know now. They can learn lessons that we are now having to fix.”

For Nedimyer, if attractions want to aid conservation efforts, it’s vital they select the right issues to focus on. Often that will be something in the local area, and if efforts directly benefit the local community, then fundraising will be easier.

“Most public aquariums have very active conservation programmes and are making a difference in the areas they have decided to focus on,” says Nedimyer. “They can’t do everything, so they must focus on an area that is strategic for them, their clientele and their donor base. The Florida Aquarium has chosen to focus on reefs and it makes sense based on their geographic location. I think they’ll be a key player in developing a public awareness programme in Cuba for coral reef protection and restoration.”