Rotary Reefs logo ROTARY REEFSBocas del Toro, Panama

Isla Solarte · Bocas del Toro · Panama

One reef started it all.

Rotary Reefs began as a single club project of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach: help bring coral back to one bleached patch of the Caribbean. It grew into The Panama Project, the first project in the world to light up every box of the 4-7-8-17 Global Success Program.

Explore 47817.org Visit The Panama Project

4-7-8-17 score 4/4 7/7 8/8 17/17

  • An 8 by 8 foot Rotary Reef structure
    The Rotary Reef structure
  • Staghorn coral fragments on an outplant bar
    Staghorn coral ready to outplant
  • A diver swims above a reef module on the sea floor
    On the reef at Isla Solarte
  • Orange sponges and coral growing on an underwater structure
    Life returning to the structure
Coral reef health

The world’s reefs are in trouble. Here is where we are fighting back.

Coral reefs are some of the most important places on the planet, and they are under more heat stress than ever recorded. Spin the globe to see the world’s great reef regions, and find our Rotary Reefs in Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Rotary Reefs, Bocas del ToroFuture Rotary Reef sites: Bahamas, Tonga, St. Croix, MazatlanMajor coral reef regionsDrag to spin
84%of the world’s coral reef area hit by bleaching level heat stress in the 4th global bleaching event, 2023 to 2025
83countries and territories reported coral bleaching during that event
~50%of the world’s coral reefs lost since 1950
<1%of the ocean floor is coral reef, yet reefs shelter about 25% of all marine species
500M+people rely on reefs for food and livelihoods
97%of wave energy can be stopped by a healthy reef before it reaches the shore

Sources: NOAA Coral Reef Watch and the International Coral Reef Initiative; Smithsonian; Wildlife Conservation Society; Coral Restoration Foundation.

Sponsor a ReefStart Reef School

Reef School

Free lessons for students, families and clubs. Learn how reefs work, why they are in danger, and what you can do about it.

Lesson 1

What is coral?

Coral looks like rock or a plant, but it is an animal. Each coral is a colony of tiny polyps that build a limestone skeleton, and over hundreds of years those skeletons become a reef.

Lesson 2

Why reefs bleach

Coral lives with tiny algae that give it food and color. When the water gets too hot for too long, the coral pushes the algae out and turns white. Bleached coral is not dead yet, but it is starving.

Lesson 3

Why reefs matter

Reefs feed families, protect coastlines from storms, bring visitors who support local jobs, and are home to fish, turtles, sharks and countless other animals.

Lesson 4

How a Rotary Reef helps

Our Rotary wheel reefs give coral, sponges and fish a safe place to grow. Within months, schools of fish move in, and a nurse shark now lives on our reef full time, a sign the reef is healthy.

Lesson 5

Glass that builds reefs

Our Rotaract Reefs are cast with rescued glass from the Bocas recycling center. That keeps bottles out of the landfill and gives marine life more surface to attach to.

Lesson 6

What you can do

Use reef safe sunscreen, never touch or stand on coral, choose sustainable seafood, cut plastic, and help your club sponsor a reef or a classroom lesson.

Bring Reef School to your classroom or club

Teachers, Interact and Rotaract clubs: we will share lesson materials, reef videos and a live update from Bocas. Every $100 Reef Gift also funds an ocean lesson for a classroom in Panama.

Request Reef SchoolGive a Reef Gift

A perfect report card

The first project to check every box.

The 4-7-8-17 Global Success Program rates every project against four layers: the Rotary Four-Way Test, Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus, the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Most strong projects score well on a few. The Panama Project, built on Rotary Reefs, scores on all of them.

See the Project Library on 47817.org

In 2023 Don Bender scored Rotary Reefs box by box. In 2025 The Panama Project became the first project to light up every box.

Our story

From one act of service to a model for the world.

Nobody expected one reef to grow this far. Rotary Reefs became living proof that Rotary's values, applied with intention, can lift a whole coastal community: its reef, its children's health, its schools and its livelihoods.

Led by Rotarian Steve Bender with the Rotary Club of Newport Beach and partner Ayuda International, the reef became the cornerstone of The Panama Project.

“What I didn't realize was that Rotary Reefs is part of a much broader effort, the Panama Project, which incorporates all seven areas of Rotary focus.”

Donna Jones, President, Rotary Club of Ojai West

  1. The first reef

    A Rotary wheel on the sea floor

    Club members build reef structures shaped like the Rotary wheel, grow coral in nurseries and place it on bleached, degraded ground at Isla Solarte.

  2. 2023

    Scored box by box

    Don Bender rates Rotary Reefs against the 4-7-8-17 framework and shows how one project can support nearly every Area of Focus, Pillar and Goal. A presentation and explainer video follow.

  3. 2025

    Every box lit

    The reef has grown into The Panama Project, adding clean water, dental care, macaw habitat, youth travel and culture. It becomes the first project to light up every box, and the first complete 4-7-8-17 living laboratory.

  4. 2025 to 2026

    Rotary Reefs 2.0

    A new round of reef tops, nursery trees and staghorn outplants goes in, with visiting Rotary clubs diving the reef their clubs helped build.

  5. 2027 and beyond

    A model to copy

    The Panama Project is the showcase of the 4-7-8-17 Global Success Program, which features 365 projects from more than 200 countries in 2027. Built to be copied by any coastal community.

Two men stand beside a concrete reef module shaped like the Rotary wheel
A six-foot Rotary Reef top, before it goes in the water.

What is Rotary Reefs?

Coral restoration run by the community.

Rotary Reefs is the coral and marine restoration work at the heart of The Panama Project. Local scientists, families and partners work side by side, and the reef is managed by the people who live beside it.

  1. Build the reefConcrete modules in the shape of the Rotary wheel give coral and fish a place to settle.
  2. Grow the coralFragments of staghorn and other corals grow on nursery trees until they are strong enough to move.
  3. Outplant and protectGrown corals are fixed to the reef, inside responsibly managed protected marine zones on Isla Solarte.
  4. Train reef stewardsCommunity members learn to care for the reef, teach it to students and share it with ecotourism visitors.
Underwater sculpture covered in orange coral in Dahab Moray eel among schooling orange fish on the Dahab reef Coral growing on a sculpture tower on the Red Sea floor
New project

Rotary Reefs-Red Sea

Taking the Rotary Reefs model from Panama to Dahab, Egypt, where an underwater sculpture museum gives coral a new home and gives divers a new site, taking pressure off the natural reefs.

See the Red Sea project

From the field

Rotary Reefs 2.0, in photos.

Reef building, coral nurseries and the health work that grew up around the reef.

Coral growing on the Rotary Reef
Coral taking hold on the reef
Coral nursery trees underwater
Coral nursery trees
The six-foot Rotary Reef top
The six-foot Rotary Reef top
The Rotary wheel reef module
The Rotary wheel
Reef restoration work in Bocas del Toro
Reef work in Bocas del Toro
A volunteer applies fluoride varnish to a schoolboy's teeth
Applying fluoride varnish on Isla Popa
Past RI President Mark Maloney with the Rotary Reef project
Past RI President Mark Maloney
Aerial view of a stilt house over the water at the edge of a forested island
Isla Solarte from above

What the reef grew into

The Panama Project: seven kinds of change in one place.

Bocas del Toro is one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth. The Panama Project, flagship of the 7 Seas Initiative, brings Rotarians, local families and partners together around one mission, and every piece is measured with 4-7-8-17.

  • Where it started

    Rotary Reefs

    Community managed coral nurseries and protected marine zones at Isla Solarte.

  • Clean water

    Solar and clean water

    Solar systems bring clean energy and safe water to off grid island communities.

  • Environment

    Great Green Macaw

    Thousands of mountain almond trees planted at Dolphin Bay for a critically endangered bird.

    themacawproject.org
  • Environment

    Ocean health

    Debris recovery and ocean lessons for local students with One Earth One Ocean.

    lionfishproject.org
  • Disease · Mothers and children

    Health and dental care

    Floating Doctors, Ayuda International and Rotarians bring fluoride treatments and care to island children.

    ayudaint.org
  • Education · Economies

    Youth and volunteer travel

    University students and volunteers serve side by side with local Rotarians.

    volunteertourism.org
  • Peace

    Culture

    Honoring the Ngäbe, Afro Caribbean, Hispanic and expat communities of Bocas del Toro.

    thepanamaproject.org
Visit ThePanamaProject.org Read the Panama Project booklet (PDF)

Voices from the field

Rotarians who dove the reef.

Rotary Reefs has grown up on the EarthX stage: Healing the Ocean, One Reef at a Time with Dr. Shelby Thomas of Ocean Rescue Alliance International in 2025, then the Rotary Reef session with student co-chair Sophia D’Angelo in 2026. Thank you, Trammell S. Crow and EarthX, for lifting up young ocean leaders.

Donna Jones

“Seeing these thriving coral colonies firsthand made it clear that coral restoration is not only possible, it's urgently needed. Spotting a large nurse shark near the reef was an unforgettable moment.”

Donna JonesPresident, Rotary Club of Ojai West
Debra Trout

“I spent 10 days in Bocas del Toro, Panama, and I must say the leadership from Steven Bender was nothing less than five-star. Steven's knowledge, leadership, and passion for the Panama projects were evident every day.”

Debra TroutRotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
Beverly Schuberth

“Rotary Reefs has already shown success in restoring coral to areas previously affected by bleaching and degradation. Committed community members are building reef structures and responsibly managing protected marine zones on Isla Solarte.”

Beverly SchuberthRotary Club of Ojai West
Eric Veenstra

“As a proud Rotarian and owner at Tropical Arts, I've had the pleasure to witness firsthand the transformative impact of The Panama Project in Bocas del Toro.”

Eric VeenstraTropical Arts, Bocas del Toro
Read all testimonials

Our main website

Bring your project to 47817.org.

Rotary Reefs showed what a project can become when it is built to pass every test. Rate your club's project with the free 4-7-8-17 AI Navigator, browse the Project Library, and enter the 2027 Global Success Projects, Species of the Week or the Rose Parade Countdown.

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47817 47817.org Global Success Program →

Part of a bigger family

Explore the project network.

Rotary Reefs is one of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach project sites supporting Rotary's 7th Area of Focus, Supporting the Environment.

A project of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach, Rotary Global Service Club

Rotary Club of Newport Beach, Rotary Global Service Club: Embracing the Future While Respecting the Past