[Coral-List] Invitation to support reef restoration project in Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, Colombia

[Phanor Hernando Montoya Maya]

Dear Coral-listers,
The large-scale coral reef restoration that is being implemented in the
islands of San Andrés and Providencia, within the Seaflower Biosphere
Reserve (SBR), has been pre-selected again by the European Outdoor
Conservation Association (EOCA) to receive financial support if the public
so decides.

July 2017 saw the start of Colombia's largest coral rehabilitation project
via coral gardening. In its first stage, nine (9) nurseries were built (7
in San Andrés and 2 in Providencia) and a stock of 5243 fragments from nine
different species of reef organisms was generated, including the critically
endangered Caribbean Staghorn and Elkhorn corals. With this milestone, the
history of coral gardening in Colombia has been rewritten. In the first
three months, we have seen over 90% average fragment survival and an
average increase of 30% in fragment size.

The first stage was financed by the Secretary of Agriculture and Fisheries
from the Government of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa
Catalina, the provincial environmental authority CORALINA, and Conservation
International Colombia; Corals de Paz was in charge of implementing the
first phase of the project. Committed to providing more than their
technical capacity, the project was presented by Corales de Paz to EOCA´s
summer funding call. The project was short-listed and was submitted for
public voting, reaching 6400 votes and finishing third among the five
projects in its Water category.

Not yet defeated and recognizing the support of all those who voted for the
project, Corales de Paz submitted a new version of the project to EOCA´s
spring call. Once again the project has been pre-selected among more than
140 projects around the world to be voted by the public. On this occasion
and having made progress in the implementation of Stage 1 of the
restoration project in San Andrés and Providencia, the resources requested
to EOCA will be used to carry out maintenance and monitoring of the
nurseries and fragments for 15 months or until the fragments reach the
appropriate size to be transplanted, with the assistance of artisanal
fishermen and volunteer divers. In order for the community to actively be
involved in the project, the funds will also implement a training program
in coral restoration. The participation of the community will also assist
with increasing the available stock to 20,000 coral fragments and initiate
the rehabilitation of the degraded reefs with the transplant of the first
batch of nursery-grown colonies.

The voting will be open from 9 to 23 March. You can read about the project
and vote by visiting
http://www.outdoorconservation.eu/project-voting-category.cfm?catid=3. The
community-based coral reef restoration project proposed for the RBS is in
the Water category under the name “Coral reef rehabilitation, Seaflower
Biosphere Reserve, Colombia”. We invite everyone who has an interest in the
conservation of endangered species and habitats, to vote for our coral reef
conservation project and win EOCA’s funding. The funds received will allow
us to continue the coral restoration activities in San Andrés and
Providencia, and generate market tools that facilitate the sustainability
of the project in the long term. With your vote we will be able to make a
great contribution to the sustainability of the largest coral reef
restoration project carried out in Colombia.

Thanks a lot and looking forward to your support voting and inviting others
to vote!

Phanor H Montoya-Maya, Ph.D.
Director Corales de Paz
Cali, Colombia &
Research Associate, Nature Seychelles
Island Conservation Centre, Amitie, Praslin, Seychelles

Tel: +57 313 652 1198
Email: phmontoyamaya at gmail.com
Organisation: www.coralesdepaz.org
Website: www.phmontoyamaya.com


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*Phanor H Montoya-Maya, Ph.D.*Director Corales de Paz
Cali, Colombia &
Research Associate, Nature Seychelles
Island Conservation Centre, Amitie, Praslin, Seychelles

Tel: +57 313 652 1198
Email: phanor at phmontoyamaya.com, phmontoyamaya at gmail.com
Organisation: www.coralesdepaz.org
Website: www.phmontoyamaya.com
Blog: www.meaningfuldiving.com