Indonesia coral reef partially restored in extensive project(forbes.com)
forbes.com
Indonesia coral reef partially restored in extensive project
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2021/05/05/the-sheba-hope-reef-brings-hope-to-coral-reefs-everywhere-you-can-help-too/
17 comments
Ok, we've changed the URL to that from https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-56985594 above. Thanks!
I recently watched a new Nova episode about scientists trying to find and/or breed and deploy heat-resistant coral to maintain certain imperiled ecosystems. It’s really interesting and relevant to anyone who is interested in this sort of thing.
> which can be easily grown in tanks
Can all coral be easily grown in tanks? Could coral-aquariums be a way to preserve species?
Can all coral be easily grown in tanks? Could coral-aquariums be a way to preserve species?
There was a nice survey article last year: Coral restoration – A systematic review of current methods, successes, failures and future directions: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...
We still have a lot to learn!
We still have a lot to learn!
There's also this article about coral reef restoration in Belize that also sounds like some rare good news for corals: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210430-the-woman-who-re... It's interesting to see how they've learned to grow the coral quicker and more effectively.
Jesus Forbes, I can barely read the article, there's just so much crap on the screen. bah.
Here you go https://outline.com/pCLMtG
Not a lot of details here other than the "reef stars" which provide a substrate for new coral growth. But what led to the coral death in the first place? Probably warmer water - not sure how this helps with that unless they're attaching species that can do well in warmer water (such as corals from the red sea, for example). There could have been other issues that led to coral death in that area such as an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphates from fertilizer runoff - unless that's addressed it's going to keep happening.
Dynamite fishing is the number 1 cause of coral reef destruction in Indonesia. Search for "blast fishing in Indonesia" - there are plenty of youtube videos of the devastation this causes. They now have protected areas that have zero tolerance to blast fishing with regular patrols and long sentences if caught. Such protected areas are thriving in coral.
To add to your list of possible causes: Ocean acidification [0]
[0] https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/22324/20190610/ocean-a...
[0] https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/22324/20190610/ocean-a...
Cyanide fishing. Ugh.
> But what led to the coral death in the first place? Probably warmer water
Building resorts near the water isn't compatible with having living reefs. Not to mention that not only does Indonesia not ban reef-toxic sunscreen, stores don't even sell reef-safe sunscreen.
Building resorts near the water isn't compatible with having living reefs. Not to mention that not only does Indonesia not ban reef-toxic sunscreen, stores don't even sell reef-safe sunscreen.
The reef stars are seeded with reef fragments, which can be easily grown in tanks. They say that they are using 42 "types" of coral. These frags will likely grow really quickly, and fill the area with coral. It's really great to see so much money and effort that uses local resources to help restore the reefs. This will could really help kickstart reef restoration in the areas.
I wish I could find more detailed information on the project; if the 42 "types" are from 42 unique source corals, and they are of different species, it seems like a limited improvement. Corals can't reproduce with their own clones. If it is the case it's from 42 sources, then while this will definitely help restore the environment in the short term, it may be of limited long-term help, particularly if the sources of destruction are not addressed.
1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2021/05/05/the-sheb...