Head Office
1st floor, G.Holhige
Alikilegefaanu Magu
Malé 20121
Maldives
Contact Us
Click to Email
Tel: (+960) 333-1626
Mob: (+960) 778-7642
Mob: (+94) 774-810-344
Reefscapers History
Reefscapers is an independent marine consultation company that aims to restore coral reefs in the Maldives and worldwide. It was founded by Thomas Le Berre and Marie Saleem, a couple passionate about the underwater world and in love with the beauty and mystery of coral reefs.
Thomas created ‘Seamarc’ in 2000, now known as ‘Reefscapers’. He first performed audits and environmental impact assessments for multiple projects in the Maldives, from port development to coastal management. However, Thomas quickly realised that coral reefs were being negatively impacted by development and climate change, so decided to explore methods to restore and protect them.
Following several years of researching various techniques, Thomas developed the revolutionary and pioneering coral frame technique that has now been adopted by various coral conservation groups worldwide.
Reefscapers Expansion
Thomas first partnered with Four Seasons in 2006, developing coral propagation programs at Landaa Giraavaru and Kuda Huraa. Marine activities were developed, and our Marine Discovery Centres were among the first to open in the Maldives, including the pioneering Fish Lab (set up to breed Maldivian Clownfish in captivity).
Increased guest awareness grew our coral frame sponsorship program, which includes regular monitoring and photography of the growing coral frames, to expand into the largest of its type in the world.
Over the years, Reefscapers has developed partnerships with various resorts around the Maldives, and we have now transplanted more than 8000 coral frames into the ocean, representing half a million individual coral fragments. We have an international team of up to 20 full-time marine biologists resident in the Maldives, with expertise in coral propagation, marine aquaculture, turtle conservation & medicine.
In 2020, Reefscapers partnered with Sheraton Maldives and the Maldivian Government to create what is now believed to be the largest man-made coral structure in the Maldives. For 2 months, Thomas and a team of dedicated marine biologists worked tirelessly to relocate healthy corals from Gulhi Falhu industrial zone, to give them a second chance on our coral frames (photo).
Reefscapers is looking to expand in the Maldives and grow its network internationally, to keep restoring coral reefs around the world, giving future generations the chance to see the beauty of coral reefs with their own eyes.
Interested in working with us ? Get in touch !
Marie Saleem (co-founder & director)
After schooling in the Himalayas, Marie worked for the Maldivian Government as a trainee Marine Biologist and Marine Research Assistant. Following a Marine Science scholarship at James Cook University (Australia), Marie gained a Master’s in Protected Area Management.
Marie worked as a Reef Ecologist at the Maldivian Government’s Marine Research Centre from 1993 to 2009. One of her many projects was the management of shark and aquarium fisheries, and she remains passionately involved with shark conservation to this day. Together with the Pew Environment Group, Marie helped to establish the shark sanctuary in the Maldives, and worked on the Valuation of Biodiversity undertaken by IUCN.
Marie is now a respected international consultant, working on shark conservation with a team of NGOs around the world. The ‘Global Shark Campaign‘ helps governments implement management measures to protect sharks and rays.
Thomas Le Berre (co-founder & director)
French coastal oceanographer and founder of Maldivian environmental consultancy Reefscapers, Thomas has been spearheading the environmental projects in the Maldives since the year 2000.
In 1992, Thomas obtained the Baccalaureat-C (Mathematics & Physics) with distinctions in Vannes, France. He was admitted to the ENSTA ParisTech, one of the French engineering “Grandes Écoles”. While studying there, Thomas took part in several exchange programmes and studied at KTH Stockholm (Sweden) and then at James Cook University of North Queensland (Australia).
Thomas moved to SE Asia in 1999 and has been living and working in the Maldives and Sri Lanka ever since. Along with Marie Saleem, in the year 2000 he founded Seamarc (‘Systems Engineering and Marine Consulting’). As well as running the company (now known as ‘Reefscapers’), Thomas is actively and passionately involved in each project, and continues to develop unique cutting-edge solutions to solve pressing environmental issues.
Kate Sheridan (marine biologist)
Originally from the UK, Kate has spent a lot of time in South Africa, working with a wide variety of wildlife from sharks to hyenas to rhinos. She co-hosts a wildlife and conservation podcast called The Biome Podcast, runs her own conservation blog and works as a freelance content creator.
Having spent 6 months working in the Maldives with Reefscapers focusing on marine communications, Kate was thrilled to accept a full-time position as resident Marine Biologist. She now manages the coral propagation program at Sheraton Maldives, restoring the reefs, monitoring coral growth, and running other marine conservation activities at the Resort.
Katelyn Hegarty-Kelly (marine biology intern)
Originally from Ireland, Katelyn has gained a huge passion for marine life through many travel experiences growing up. Since the age of 15, she knew she wanted to be a marine biologist with an urge to work in conservation and research. She graduated with in Applied Freshwater & Marine Biology from the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Galway, Ireland. For her final year thesis, she looked at microplastics in the common prawn at Galway Bay. She gained further ATU experience assisting in various microplastic research projects.
In 2021, she founded and co-directs The Ray Project NGO, based in Ireland which is working towards the conservation and awareness of native ray and skate species along the Irish coast.
Having a huge interest and urge to work in coral restoration work, she discovered Reefscapers and was eager to apply for an internship position after graduation. She is delighted to join the team at the Sheraton Resort, where she will assist in running the Adopt-a-Coral program and create content for social media platforms.
Hazel Araujo (marine biologist)
In 2022, Hazel was recognized by NAAEE as one of the top-30 under-30 environmental educators, having worked with local NGOs to promote ocean literacy to more than 1,000 children and youth in Guatemala.
Hazel has been a youth policy advocate and national representative in various climate and ocean international conferences such as COP27, UN Ocean Conference, COY17, and RCOY Latin America.
In 2023, Hazel started coordinating our Reefscapers coral restoration project at The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort. She also leads marine biology activities such as megafauna sightings research, awareness talks, and snorkeling excursions.
Sebastien Stradal (marine consultant)
Sebastien gained a Master’s degree in Marine Biology at the University Montpellier (France). This was the fulfillment of a dream kindled by a passion about the marine world that began at a young age growing up in the coastal area of a small city in West Africa.
Sebastien first started his career as an aquaculture technician, with the opportunity of working with varied marine species and multiple productions in Australia, Europe, SE Asia and the Caribbean. More adventures unfolded, as Sebastien went to work as a fish-inspector in the Antarctic and in the Indian Ocean, on fishing vessels targeting tuna and Patagonian toothfish.
After a year at sea, Sebastien went to Thailand to develop coral reef restoration projects for resorts for two years. He then went for one last trip to the Kerguelen Islands as part of a scientific expedition to study the marine life population, before settling down as the Manager of the Marine Discovery Centre, based at Landaa Giraavaru (2014 to 2017).
Always looking for a new challenge, since 2018 Sebastien has been working to protect the marine environment as a Reefscapers Consultant, and continues to develop projects in the Maldives and internationally.
Preston McMahon (coral projects and digital content)
Preston received a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota (USA). He grew up in a rural agricultural community where he saw how human practices have a large impact on distant marine environments. His degree communicated the disconnect we have with our environment at local and global scales.
Preston’s thesis focused on coral reefs: their beauty and degradation. He combined his love for the ocean and passion for 3D-modelling to create further awareness of our underwater ecosystems using virtual and augmented reality; bridging a communication gap for those who may otherwise not have access to the marine environment.
Upon graduation, Preston was excited to move to the Maldives (2022) to continue his passion for ocean communication with Reefscapers. He develops innovative graphical solutions to increase awareness of Reefscapers projects. By sharing his passions and educating about the importance of coral reefs, he hopes to promote restoration and a move towards more sustainable practices in the Maldives.
In 2023, Preston joined our team of full-time staff, working on bespoke Reefscapers coral projects in local island communities.
Martin Whiteley (web dev, photographer)
Fascination with wildlife led to a degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton (UK) and Martin combined a love of photography to study forensics using scanning electron micrographs.
Several IT jobs followed, including the setup and management of inventory control systems for a busy electrical warehouse. A series of promotions at telecommunications company Virgin Media led Martin to a role as Deputy Operations Manager for a large team of IT professionals overseeing the company’s national data centre. This included a year-long project working closely with IBM to design and exhaustively test a disaster recovery plan and technical documentation library.
Following a 3-month global trip, Martin made his home in the Maldives in 2007, initially as a resort Spa Manager, and then since 2011 as the web developer for Reefscapers and Marine Savers.
As a freelance web developer, writer, photographer and social media marketer, Martin’s clients also include/d: Four Seasons, UN-Maldives, Yeoman Group, Atoll Editions, Cosmopolitan-Wrist, Soneva Fushi, Hotelier Maldives. He is also pleased to work with and promote several non-profit NGOs in the social & environmental fields.
Marine Savers Teams at Four Seasons Resorts Maldives
You can also Meet our Marine Savers teams, based at two Marine Discovery Centres at Four Seasons Resorts Maldives – Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru.
Our Reefscapers team of marine biologists at Landaa Giraavaru
