Friday, 29 September 2017 06:26

Your vote is needed to restore Colombia’s coral reefs

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 Divers monitoring coral health Divers monitoring coral health

A proposal to undertake a large-scale coral reef restoration project in the Colombian Caribbean has been shortlisted for support by the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA). Now, outdoor enthusiasts and project supporters will vote to decide if the project gets to receive funding for long-term sustainability. 

In the last three decades, live coral cover has declined by more than 50% on the Colombian oceanic islands of San Andres and Old Providence, within the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, due to human activity and high algal dominance. Monitoring surveys of reef restoration projects have shown that large-scale coral gardening can increase coral cover on transplanted sites by 700% over a 4 year period.

colob Corals transplanted in PNN Old Providence

The proposed project wants to upscale the magnitude of local restoration work from hundreds to thousands of coral fragments over large degraded reef areas at the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve following a participatory approach. Reef users, local community members, local fishermen and hobby divers will all be invited to take part in training schemes and then to help in reef rehabilitation activities, setting up and maintaining coral reef nurseries, transplanting coral colonies to degraded coral reef sites, conducting monitoring surveys, and enforcing protection. 

The project was submitted by Corales de Paz, a local NGO that promotes the participatory conservation of the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs. Corales de Paz´s goal is meaningful diving or diving with a purpose. With the help of outdoor enthusiasts and divers Corales de Paz wants to have a running stock of about 10,000 coral fragments, of which about 30% will have been transplanted to a degraded reef and should result in an immediate 10% increase in live coral cover and fish abundance by the end of year two. For long-term sustainability, a business plan will be developed so that skills can be transferred, results shared and income generating activities for locals implemented. Among these are a Coral Reef Restoration training program, an interactive reef restoration educational centre, a payment for ecosystem services scheme, and an awareness raising campaign and fundraising tailored to tourists and businesses.

 Monitoring corals in nurseries

The project has now be entered into the public vote. This will run from 4-18 October. The project is in the Water category. Should the project receive the most votes in this category it will get the funding it requested. The vote will be live on the EOCAś website www.outdoorconservation.eu. We are inviting the public to vote for Project 107: Coral Reef Rehabilitation in Seaflower Biosphere Reserve and help Colombia in effectively restore the fishing, storm protection and recreational services that coral reefs provide to the country.

For more information, please visit Corales de Paz website: www.coralesdepaz.org, write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or follow its social networks @coralesdepaz.

Read 2212 times Last modified on Friday, 29 September 2017 07:50