[Coral-List] Coral regeneration projects

[Austin Bowden-Kerby]

Dear Phanor, Nohora, Hector, Nicole, Ken, Gene and all on this topic
sparked by Phanor and Nohora's postings.

Gene's letter and the short film he attached gives perspective to what we
are facing globally.  It is horrific.  We can not afford to squabble or to
oppose one another.  We have been in a three decade war against the
collapse of coral reefs, and the widespread establishment of MPAs was a
real victory - we were making real progress, but then climate change reared
its ugly head, and most of the progress made has fallen away- from the
standpoint of the corals at least. This has been very discouraging, but we
cannot give up.

Nohora, for three decades, my life has been focused on coral restoration,
and the breaking of wild corals to produce fragments for restoration
through transplantation is generally not what is happening these days at
least, so this must be a misconception.  Of course most will agree with you
that this is generally not a good idea.  My grandmother would call that
approach "Robbing Peter to pay Paul".  Even "fragments of opportunity" can
sometimes be corrupted- like if someone paid a community to gather them
without supervision, although involving community members might be a good
idea under supervision and after a major storm. Of course we live in an
area of the world without the need for permits, as long as the local chiefs
agree.

In addition, corals can be transported out of water for several hours if
frequently or constantly sprinkled with seawater, shaded, and kept out of
the wind, and without any obvious harm- that is generally not an issue in
our work, based on many years of experience. Transporting them in poorly
circulating seawater however is not good.

Corals for Conservation in Fiji and the Pacific, Fragments of Hope in
Belize, and Punta Cana Ecological Foundation in DR (and most other
restoration orgs) don't go around randomly borrowing from one reef to
restore another.  Yes, we do initially trim small amounts from declining
coral species, and secure those within gene bank nurseries to increase
their biomass.  We also sometimes cross-transplant branches between
isolated single genet populations to help reboot sexual reproduction.

The corals in the nurseries are established as permanent "mother colonies",
where they grow very rapidly, often greater than ten times the original
biomass per year.  These are then trimmed every year or so to produce "seed
fragments" for the restoration work.  As we are not well funded, and low
budget, we locate the nurseries where they are cleaned by the fish, not by
divers with toothbrushes.  The nurseries are integral to the reef and have
proven highly resistant to cyclones, and if abandoned, the corals will
ideally continue to survive and thrive and to reproduce sexually as highly
diverse patches.  The nursery frame and ropes offer significant protection
from predation, so we now are outplanting onto metal a-frames made of the
common welded 20x20 cm floor mesh frames coated with epoxy, rust kill, or
rust guard, which over time turns into a dense patch and spreads laterally
through natural fragmentation processes.

I started down the coral reef restoration path over 30 years ago, at a time
before many of us even knew mass coral bleaching was possible, and during a
time when coral reefs were mostly doing much better than they are now.  I
have gone through changes in strategy, initially focused on repairing
cyclone or dynamite damage, and at that time in the Pacific, I indeed
harvested from wild coral populations, as the corals were super abundant.
But moving to the Caribbean in 1993 was a real wake-up call, as the
abundant staghorn corals that I had focused on in the Pacific, were
horribly decimated in the Caribbean, and in the process of declining
further.  No one seemed to be doing anything active with coral restoration
in the Caribbean at that time.  Gene Shinn was the first to do
transplanting and to suggest that active coral restoration might be
possible (thanks Gene for that).  Once in the Caribbean I realized very
quickly that harvesting from the wild to produce outplants was no longer
acceptable, at least in the Caribbean, but unfortunately that reality has
caught up with us now in many situations in the IndoPacific as well. The
focus has now turned to collecting as many of the remaining genotypes of
formerly abundant species as possible, to grow them within nurseries to
increase their biomass, and only then to trim second generation fragments
for outplanting into genetically diverse patches.

In recent years, I have stopped believing in "upscaling" restoration, which
tends to focus on replanting large areas or even entire reef systems. I
don't feel this is practical, cost effective, or even possible for most
areas.  Rather than imposing this on the reef, why not work to reestablish
and accelerate natural coral recovery processes as well as to accelerate
natural adaptation to climate change?  Our focus is no longer on the
numbers of corals, but rather on the number of viable and reproductive
coral patches which provide habitat for diverse fish and crustaceans.  I am
not even sure that what I do these days is 'coral reef restoration' in the
older mindset, perhaps "facilitated adaptation and recovery" is more
accurate?  We look to learn from the ecological restoration of forests- not
to mimic commercial reforestation, so rather than focusing on fragments per
square meter or outplanting larger areas more sparsely, we focus on patch
dynamics and restoring much smaller areas more densely, more diversely, and
more resiliently, so that the fish can move in quickly, and sexual
reproduction of the corals can begin more quickly as well.  It is also much
easier to monitor and remove predators using this strategy.

After the mass coral bleaching of 2016 killed off years of restoration work
here in Fiji, I realized that all the outplanting in the world would not
save the reefs from the impacts of climate change.  Many of you have seen
the BBC-TV clip of our corals growing over time- well all of those corals
and virtually all that we had planted over a decade of work bleached and
died.  It was horrifying and depressing. Watch these encouraging clips, but
with the realization that the corals shown are now mostly all dead.
http://vimeo.com/5712168  Wild Pacific Clip of the Fiji coral work with
timed series of coral growth.
https://vimeo.com/552025897?fbclid=IwAR29bdBH8MrOQzfywBelqD4PvpRJhRL-
<https://vimeo.com/552025897?fbclid=IwAR29bdBH8MrOQzfywBelqD4PvpRJhRL-_8h7E2Pbg4kWEVii00aYXNUwvcw>
_8h7E2Pbg4kWEVii00aYXNUwvcw
<https://vimeo.com/552025897?fbclid=IwAR29bdBH8MrOQzfywBelqD4PvpRJhRL-_8h7E2Pbg4kWEVii00aYXNUwvcw>
The full 9 minute BBC TV “Coral Gardener” film.

For both of these films, BBC took our footage and made their own
narratives, so they are overly hopeful and they will not likely include a
sequel showing the destruction and widespread death of these same reefs.
However it was not useless work, as it was highly educational, many
community-based MPAs were established, and it helped start a process by
which over 300 MPAs eventually were established by others.  The communities
also now better understand what we are facing with climate change- they
were deeply impacted as well.  The situation on the reef there is similar
to the video that Bruce Carlson recently posted, although the corals were
mostly dead and standing from mass bleaching.

When we started the staghorn restoration work in Belize in 2009, if I
remember correctly there were only eleven genotypes that we could find in
one month of searching in the wider Placencia area, and those we sampled
and established in two initial nurseries.  More genotypes were later found
by the very dedicated and hardworking and under-funded Lisa Carne and local
reef guides and fishers. These mother corals in the nurseries have now
produced tens of thousands of outplanted fragments since 2010, and it
continues.  Although Belize has since suffered severe condition-two
bleaching in multiple years, most of the corals continue to thrive.  Also
in Punta Cana DR, where in 2004 we could only find three genotypes of
staghorn corals remaining in very small remnant patches, once established
as mother colonies, these corals have produced many thousands of fragments
since, and more genotypes have been added in subsequent years.  Some of
these coral populations that we initially collected from have now died out
completely on the reef due to rampant snail and fireworm predation, so it
is fortunate that we collected them, as the nurseries are predator
resistant.

For the Caribbean since the 1990's and now in places like the Marianas and
Kiribati, the Acropora corals have now mostly died out, and very few of the
genotypes remain, with the remnant patches typically all of one genotype.
With no coral reefs upcurrent on these islands, there is no recruitment
from other areas, so larvae must recruit from the local populations, which
are now not reproducing effectively due to low genetic diversity. Most of
the Acropora species in these situation either become locally extinct or
reproductively extinct, with only few genotypes left and those mostly
widely separated.

As so with many species declining and even sliding into local extinction,
the most important thing for many reefs is not the restoration of the reef
in the typical sense.  I feel an urgency- that we are in a rush against
time to rescue as much diversity is left within each of the declining coral
species, to identify remnant populations which are now mostly composed of
only a single surviving genotype, to sample from those and to put the
corals into a gene bank nursery located in a sweet spot on the reef- with
good circulation but where cyclone waves roll right over the top.  And once
the biomass increases, we then focus on restoring sexual reproduction to
each species within patches of corals. We are also in a rush against time
to find and secure bleaching resistant corals.

Fortunately on multiple stressed reefs, the few corals surviving appear to
be, for the most part, the strongest of the strong; both disease and heat
resistant.  The hot pocket reefs of the nearshore, of wide reef flats,
extreme shallows and shallow closed lagoons contain the most bleaching
resistant corals, but unfortunately we have seen these populations decline
in Fiji and Tuvalu, and even totally wiped out in Kiribati when the
long-term mass bleaching of 2016 hit. The urgency is because the most
thermally tolerant corals are already at the upper limit of biological
tolerance, and these reefs can get so hot during the mass bleaching events
that even the fish die there!  (Alas sea level rise is just too slow to
cool these hot reefs off in time.)  So we identify the hot pockets reefs,
sample the corals from them, and bring them out into nurseries established
in cooler waters further out within the wider reef system.  We are in a
race against time for the very few areas we can access, as we operate with
volunteer staff and with only minor funding.  What we have done in the big
scheme of things is miniscule, but at least we are establishing new battle
plans and war strategies to combat the advancing enemy- the mass die off of
coral reefs, by using corals that can survive unbleached in their new
locations for the next 30+ years, hoping that acidification or super
cyclones do not destroy all of them.

I have a narrated Powerpoint presentation on this and other coral reef
adaptation strategies we are using at the link below, focused on keeping as
many genotypes of as many coral species alive and in healthy reproductive
condition for another 30 years, which is likely beyond my own age.  Of
course, everything that we do assumes that humanity will finally get our
act together and transform into sustainability.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350568126_Pacific_Super_Coral_Strategy_Narrated_20_Minutes

The strategy is also in our case study which was included in the Jan 2021
UNEP report on coral restoration, which is an excellent document as well.
https://www.icriforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Hein-et-al.-2020_UNEP-report-1.pdf

I also take the high tech approaches- particularly in Australia, and in
part funded by the fossil fuel companies, as a big and mostly harmful
distraction.  I applied to the "Great Barrier Reef Challenge", but had my
proposal rejected as being not new or revolutionary enough!  Technology
will not save the planet- giant fans to cool the reefs: 3-D printed
artificial reefs, cloud brightening, coral planting robots that can work
for only a few weeks a year, electric reefs, you name it!  What will save
the planet will be banning fossil fuel use, transforming agricultural
production systems, taxing single use plastics and harmful products out of
existence, banning international weapons of war and the instability warfare
and the vast wastage of resources causes, and establishing a just
international economic system with a universal currency.  I believe that if
we cannot ultimately do all of these things and more, the long term
survival of the planet is in jeopardy. And all starts with unity of vision
and unity of action, even if in many diverse forms.

Many non-scientists want to become involved in saving coral reefs, but what
hands-on actions can volunteers to do?  Cleaning rubbish from the beach and
ocean, removing COTS, and especially coral restoration seems to be direct
hands on activities that people can do. Some groups take advantage of this
growing yearning to help the planet, and so they raise their funding
through volunteer fees and donations, which can be good or bad, depending
on how effective the efforts are.

All of this feeds into the negative, often outdated, and prejudicial
opinion that some scientists in the field of coral reef science have
against the field of coral restoration in general. I believe that this
negativity has made it almost impossible to get major funding for coral
restoration or coral reef adaptation to climate change for far too long. We
too have had to turn to crowd funding to open sites in Kiribati and Tuvalu
and Vanuatu.

Overall, there seems to be no effective strategy or battle plan to save
reefs- what I see is highly bureaucratic and mostly disjointed efforts,
beginning in words and ending in words, and wasting money- separated by
nations and divided by competing elements, and with unproven solutions
receiving lots more funding than the proven ones and small NGOs in the
field. Peer reviewed publications mostly come from university scientists,
while those in the field are most often too busy running things and writing
proposals and donor reports to have the time to publish their results. We
tend to be looked down on and not taken seriously. But in the mainstream,
there seem to be no generals to lead what really must become a unified army
fighting for the survival of coral reefs.  For the most part it is every
soldier to himself. But seriously, it is time to come together, and to
develop battle plans and strategies, not to retreat.

Some scientists have suggested that we abandon the more gravely impacted
coral reefs as hopeless, devoting all of our energies on saving more
resilient reefs that stand a better chance of surviving the approaching
catastrophic bleaching.  But what that amounts to is abandoning our front
line in an escalating war, retreating to the stronger refuges in fear.
This defeatist approach is dangerous, as it abandons the majority of our
coral reefs and discounts the great resilience and strengths that these
battle hardened areas might contribute to winning this war.  This is not
triage, because the assault is ongoing, and we now know that even the most
healthy and pristine reef systems can die within a matter of only a few
months.

The ability of the scientific and international community and of national
governments to act together has shown itself.  Noone seems to have noticed
that the entire reef system of Kiribati has mostly died!  Three entire
island groups, of 33 atolls straddling the equator for 2,900 km experienced
condition two bleaching for 10-14 months straight in 2016, and no one
seemed to notice or to do any follow up monitoring?  Kiribati now amounts
to the leading edge of the collapse- a grave and advanced assault in the
midmost heart of the ocean, and no one seems to have a clue?  While all we
have is the NOAA remote sensing data for all except one Atoll- Christmas
Atoll (Kiritimati), that Atoll clearly shows a grave situation, with 95% of
all corals dead, and with several branching coral species locally extinct.
Ciguatera is also beginning to impact the community in a grave manner, with
most reef fish on Kiritimati Atoll too toxic to eat. This was not the case
in 2016.  The three island groups which make up Kiribati all had the
highest number of months above bleaching temperatures since records began
in 1985: the Gilbert Chain with 77 months, the Phoenix Islands with 60
months, and the Line Islands with 57 months, as compared to Fiji with 21
months, Tahiti with 6 months, and the Maldives with 8 months.  It appears
the La Nina years are now the only respite for Kiribati. I have in recent
months done my best to raise the alert at higher levels of the government,
but I have not yet gotten any definitive reply, although the lower levels
are aware and some are deeply concerned, but the top-down stratification of
their system seems to have prevented any trickle up.

For those who have kept reading, thank you!  So much could have been said
earlier to defend what we are actually about, but it takes so much effort,
and never seems to make much of a difference, as people seem to harden
their opinions.

Kind regards to all,

Austin

PS: As far as population being the root cause of our problems, I think
consumerism is the real cancer eating at the planet, and the developed word
is much more to blame for the collapse of coral reefs than the world's
poor- if anything blame an economic system which creates desperate poverty.
Our civilization rides a wave of prosperity generated by massive land
theft, genocide, slavery,and colonialism. But fortunately population is
showing signs of resolving itself now- Us old folks who formed our opinions
decades ago need to keep up with the rapidly changing realities.  Just see
this and other more recent reports.  Fertility rate: Jaw dropping rash in
children being born!  https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521

Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
Corals for Conservation
Sustainable Environmental Livelihoods for the Future
P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
https://www.corals4conservation.org
TEDx talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRLJ8zDm0U
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
<https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/>


Teitei Livelihoods Centre
Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands
(679) 938-6437
http:/www.
<http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji>
teiteifiji.org
http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
https://www.facebook.com/teiteifarmstay
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/happy-chickens-for-food-security-and-environment-1/





On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 6:39 AM Phanor Hernando Montoya Maya via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Dear Nohora,
> Coral as handle with extreme care, following best management practices for
> Acropora propagation and the its published recovery plan.  Wet and dry
> handling times (when necessary) are kept to a minimum. We also monitor
> survival and growth during the nursery fase and can confirm that survival
> of coral fragments is above the benchmarks for Acropora cervicornis. Thanks
> for your concern.
>
> Regarding intervention sites, we will communicate your concerns and
> suggestions to the Ministry of Environment.
>
> We also follow ICRI and share its recommendations with regards to adopting
> proactive and reactive restoration strategies.
>
> Please stop using photos and phrases out of context. It is verging on cyber
> bulling and propagating fake news.
>
> Thanks,
> Phanor
>
>
>
>
> El dom., 4 de julio de 2021 12:42 p. m., Nohora Galvis <
> icri.colombia at gmail.com> escribió:
>
> > Phanor,
> >
> > According to your strategy: , how long you keep outside the water the
> > coral microfragments in order to save the Colombian Coral Reefs ?  It
> > stresses the coral polyps at high temperatures !!!
> >
> > Your photo is an early alert
> > https://mobile.twitter.com/ICRIcolombia/status/1411070220773515268
> >
> > Please do not advise the Minister of Environment to microfragment the
> most
> > resilient coral reefs of the Colombian Caribbean. Leave them as control
> > sites. There is still natural coral recruitment there.
> >
> > According to ICRI, the recommendation to avoid pollution, overfishing,
> > sedimentation, dredging and other anthropogenic activities that cause
> > unsustainable development are still valid !!!
> >
> > El dom, jul 4, 2021 06:00, Phanor Hernando Montoya Maya via Coral-List <
> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> escribió:
> >
> >> >
> >> > Dear all,
> >> Let me re-send an email sent June 23 2021 to the coral-list in response
> to
> >> the one million coral for Colombia project that sparked this thread
> about
> >> coral regeneration projects.
> >> Somehow it got lost in the email threads.
> >> I think it is relevant to answer and comment on your concerns about this
> >> and other coral reef restoration projects. We work from our documented
> >> experience and following most recent best practices, guidelines and
> >> scientific literature in ecological restoration of coral reefs.
> >> I also invite you to check the review and database on coral reef
> >> restoration that is held on the ICRI website, which host most of the
> >> scientific literature use to design the project : Boström-Einarsson L,
> >> Ceccarelli D, Cook N, Hein M, Smith A, McLeod IM. (2020). Data from:
> Coral
> >> restoration – A systematic review of successes, failures and future
> >> directions. Dryad Digital Repository. doi:10.5061/dryad.p6r3816
> >> https://www.icriforum.org/restoration/coral-restoration-database/
> >>
> >> Stay safe,
> >>
> >> Phanor H Montoya-Maya, Ph.D.
> >> Director Corales de Paz
> >> Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner #0514
> >> Research Associate CEMARIN
> >>
> >> >  Dear Nohora, rrreefs team and coral-listers,
> >> >
> >> > Thank you very much for allowing me to bring up the latest news from
> >> > Colombia on coral reef conservation and restoration to the coral-list:
> >> the
> >> > government of Colombia has joined the UN Decade on Ecosystem
> Restoration
> >> > with the launching of the initiative One Million Corals for Colombia.
> >> This
> >> > is the very first time that the national government of Colombia
> includes
> >> > coral reef restoration within its agenda. A milestone for all
> >> researchers,
> >> > practitioners, and environmental authorities working on this
> discipline
> >> > since the early 2000s. Here is a long email explaining the Why, How,
> and
> >> > What of this initiative in a bullet form.
> >> >
> >> > The Why:
> >> > - Although Colombia has National Natural Parks and marine protected
> >> areas
> >> > that protect almost 90% of its coral reefs, no clear signs of reef
> >> recovery
> >> > have been observed after significant degradation due to natural
> >> > disturbances in the 1980s and the average coral coverage continues to
> >> > decline.  The slow recovery of reefs in protected areas has been
> >> explained
> >> > by the continuous impact of human actions within MPAs and by a failure
> >> in
> >> > coral recruitment due to the loss of the structural complexity of the
> >> reefs.
> >> > - Today, 29% of the coral areas in Colombia have been classified as
> >> areas
> >> > in high need of restoration if they are to preserve the more than $
> >> 421,000
> >> > million dollars annually (2013 USD) in ecosystem services that coral
> >> reefs
> >> > provide only to the Colombian Caribbean.
> >> > - Although coral reef restoration activities in isolation cannot bring
> >> > dead reefs back to life, when combined with proactive restoration
> >> methods
> >> > (e.g. MPAs, disturbance control) they can certainly help speed up
> >> natural
> >> > reef recovery.
> >> > - National Natural Parks of Colombia (PNNC) and the Corporation for
> >> > Sustainable Development of the Archipelago Department of San Andrés
> >> > Providencia and Santa Catalina - CORALINA - have carried out since
> 2009
> >> > small-scale pilot projects (<2000 fragments) for the restoration of
> >> coral
> >> > reefs using the coral gardening concept in six protected areas with
> >> > positive coral survival results in nursery (> 90%) and transplant (>
> >> 86%)
> >> > stages.
> >> > - Between 2017 and 2020, a large-scale participatory coral gardening
> >> > project in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa
> >> Catalina,
> >> > the Reef for All project, generated a stock of 13,468 fragments of
> four
> >> > hard coral species and outplanted 8,537 of these in more than 4,500
> >> square
> >> > meters of reef in the Archipelago. Preliminary analysis of the effect
> of
> >> > the interventions carried out - massive coral transplantation and
> micro
> >> > fragmentation - showed an increase in live coral coverage between 23%
> >> and
> >> > 41% at the intervened sites, higher than control and reference sites.
> >> > - The science of ecological restoration of coral reefs indicates that
> it
> >> > is important to increase the scale of the restoration, both in the
> >> number
> >> > of transplanted corals and in the intervened area and stakeholders
> >> > involved. In this way, we can accelerate reef recovery, promote
> adaptive
> >> > resilience to climate change, and reduce the costs of interventions.
> >> > Seeking to protect the genetic diversity of coral populations in the
> >> > intervened sites, coral nurseries can become genetic repositories
> where
> >> > individuals are protected and away from the diseases that are
> currently
> >> > affecting natural reefs. Nurseries could also become breeding sites
> once
> >> > corals reach sexual maturity.
> >> > - The replication and adaptation of the experience achieved in the
> REEF
> >> > FOR ALL program and in other smaller-scale processes in the coral
> areas
> >> of
> >> > Colombia, within the framework of the National Development Plan (PND
> >> 2010 -
> >> > 2014) and the National Restoration Plan (PNR ) of the Ministry of
> >> > Environment and Sustainable Development - MADS - will contribute to
> >> meeting
> >> > the objectives of the National Government of seeking strategies and
> >> actions
> >> > to turn Colombia into a sustainable bi-oceanic power by the year 2030
> >> > (CONPES 3990), and to contribute to the planned goals of the UN in the
> >> > Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and Ocean Sciences for
> >> > Sustainable Development (2021-2030).
> >> >
> >> > The How:
> >> > - As members of the Society for Ecological Restoration and the Coral
> >> > Restoration Consortium, we follow the international principles and
> >> > standards for the practice of ecological restoration to increase the
> >> scale
> >> > of coral reef restoration efforts in Colombia that lead to the
> >> conservation
> >> > of their biodiversity and ecosystem services in Colombia.
> >> > - Similarly, we follow published coral gardening and coral restoration
> >> > genetics guidelines (e.g. for collection, genetic diversity, site
> >> > selection, etc.) and benchmarks (e.g. survival and growth) to increase
> >> the
> >> > effectiveness and evaluate the success of coral gardening efforts, and
> >> > reduce/control/mitigate the risk underpinning these and any other
> >> actions.
> >> > - We use science-based tested methods for coral propagation that allow
> >> the
> >> > inclusion of over 20 hard coral species from the Caribbean and involve
> >> all
> >> > relevant social actors (e.g. ONGs, researchers, diving professionals,
> >> > fisher folks) currently working in coral reef restoration to
> streamline
> >> > efforts under national guidelines to ensure sustainability, control,
> and
> >> > compliance.
> >> > - We concentrate on coral stock already growing in the more than six
> (6)
> >> > coral gardening projects running in Colombia, five of them within
> MPAs.
> >> >
> >> > The What:
> >> > - We identify and prioritize species for propagation (>20).
> >> > - We identify and characterize coral reef areas (13) for restoration
> in
> >> > the Colombian Caribbean and Pacific.
> >> > - We develop implementation plans for the cultivation and restoration
> >> > projects by public entities of the environmental sector (13) following
> >> > previous experiences.
> >> > - We set coral gardening parameters for the propagation of coral
> >> colonies.
> >> > Our fragmentation and microfragmentation protocol allow us to collect
> >> only
> >> > 10% of a donor colony if needed (targeting artificial reefs and piers
> >> found
> >> > on most areas), use available stock, focused on fragments of
> opportunity
> >> > (naturally fragmented). Finally, a collection of fragments from 10
> >> colonies
> >> > (genotypes) per species per site is estimated to be representative of
> >> more
> >> > than 50% of the genetic diversity of each site.
> >> > - We set a 18 months (re)fragmentation plan that allows fragment
> growth
> >> > and the exponential propagation of the initial stock. Our model
> ensures
> >> > that only 22,500 cm2 or 2.25 m2 of living coral tissue will be
> required
> >> per
> >> > species per site to generate the initial culture stock at each site.
> >> > - We grow 100.000 fragments from branching corals in underwater rope
> >> > nurseries, using current national stock that is well over 50.000 from
> >> the
> >> > three Acropora species. The other 900.000 fragments are from massive
> and
> >> > encrusting coral species which will be propagated in fixed table
> >> nurseries
> >> > and/or directly transplanted onto denuded coral heads (re-skinning).
> >> > - At each of the 13 coral reef areas, we will build a team of 6 locals
> >> to
> >> > run the coral gardening activities of this initiative. They will be
> >> trained
> >> > on coral gardening techniques following our standardized professional
> >> > training workshop program (similar to the one organized by rrreefs and
> >> that
> >> > initiated this thread).
> >> > - We establish strategic alliances with private and public actors to
> >> > support coral gardening actions and other complementary activities.
> >> > - From the strengthening of strategic alliances, guide documents will
> be
> >> > produced to serve as a tool for decision-making and planning of
> >> maintenance
> >> > actions and regular monitoring of the cultivated stock (ie survival
> and
> >> > growth) in order to identify and manage threats in a timely manner,
> and
> >> > that it informs and assists in the fulfillment of the goals.
> >> > - Similarly and in accordance with what has been previously described,
> >> we
> >> > continue promoting collective actions to reduce anthropogenic
> pressures
> >> > (e.g. local pollution, overfishing, anchoring) in coral areas and that
> >> also
> >> > strengthen the management and sustainable use of the ecosystem.
> >> > - We set plans for managing associated local risks (i.e. predators,
> >> > diseases, cash flow shortages, rapid threat response) as implemented
> in
> >> > other regions affected by coral diseases (Belize, Puerto Rico), storms
> >> > (Seychelles), or funding limitations (Fiji, Colombia).
> >> > - We set an advisory team to design the roadmap for the second phase
> of
> >> > the project: coral outplanting.
> >> >
> >> > I hope this described the One Million Coral project that Dra Nohora
> >> Galvis
> >> > mentioned and provides requested feedback.
> >> >
> >> > Some important notes I leave you with:
> >> > - Under a hurricane cat 5 there is no above or underwater structure
> that
> >> > will hold strong. Does that mean we should not be building structures
> >> with
> >> > set specific goals (e.g. houses, shelters, artificial reefs,
> nurseries)
> >> > then at hurricane-prone areas?
> >> > - INVEMAR, the Marine and Coastal Research Institute from Colombia,
> >> > already showed that coral reefs in Providencia island were not
> severely
> >> > affected by hurricane Iota and Eta. Mangroves and the whole land green
> >> > cover was.
> >> > -  Although the dredging operations at Providencia island channel
> pose a
> >> > high risk to coral reefs, to date there is no scientific evidence yet
> to
> >> > suggest a negative impact on coral reef sites.
> >> > - One that has been discussed here so many times: climate change is
> >> > undoubtedly the most important threat coral reefs face, but we cannot
> >> sit
> >> > and wait while we work on it. I believe, there are a lot of people in
> >> the
> >> > world to divide efforts and work simultaneously on controlling threats
> >> and
> >> > promoting natural reef recovery.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks and apologies for the long email.
> >> >
> >> > Some used references:
> >> > - Amar KOO, Rinkevich B (2007) A floating mid-water coral nursery as
> >> > larval dispersion hub: Testing an idea. Mar Biol 151:713–718
> >> > - Baums IB et al. (2019) Considerations for maximizing the adaptive
> >> > potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic. Ecol
> >> Appl
> >> > 29:1–23
> >> > - Bayraktarov E et al. (2020) Coral reef restoration efforts in Latin
> >> > American countries and territories Keshavmurthy, S, editor. PLOS ONE
> >> > 15:e0228477
> >> > - Franke-Ante R et al. (2014) Aportes a la consolidación de un proceso
> >> > regional para la conservación de arrecifes coralinos: ensayos para la
> >> > estandarización de metodologías para el repoblamiento de especies
> >> > amenazadas del género Acropora en tres Parques Nacionales Naturales
> del
> >> > Caribe. Biota Colombiana 15:114–131
> >> > - Gnecco M, Maya MF, Montoya-Maya PH (2019) Producto 1: Trasplante de
> >> > colonias de Acropora cervicornis y A. palmata en áreas priorizadas,
> >> ensayo
> >> > de microfragmentación y caracterización ecológica en San Andrés y
> >> > Providencia - Reserva de Biosfera Seaflower. Documento Técnico.
> >> Convenio de
> >> > Cooperación No. 6005573. Cali, Colombia. 33p.
> >> > - INVEMAR (2016) Informe del estado de los ambientes y recursos
> marinos
> >> y
> >> > costeros en Colombia: Año 2015. Ser. Publicaciones Periódicas No. 3
> St.
> >> > Marta
> >> > - Montoya Maya PH et al. (2016) Large-scale coral reef restoration
> could
> >> > assist natural recovery in Seychelles, Indian Ocean. Nature
> Conservation
> >> > 16:1–17
> >> > - Prato JA, CN (RA) Reyna JA (2015) Aproximación a la Valoración
> >> Económica
> >> > de la Zona Marina y Costera del Caribe Colombiano. Secretaría
> Ejecutiva
> >> de
> >> > la Comisión Colombiana del Océano, Bogotá
> >> > - Shearer TL et al. (2009) Restoration of coral populations in light
> of
> >> > genetic diversity estimates. Coral Reefs 28:727–733
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > *Phanor H Montoya-Maya, Ph.D.*Director Corales de Paz
> >> > Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner #0514
> >> > Research Associate CEMARIN
> >> >
> >> > Tel: +57 313 652 1198
> >> > Email: phmontoya at coralesdepaz.org, phmontoyamaya at gmail.com
> >> > Organisation: www.coralesdepaz.org
> >> > LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/phmontoyamaya/
> >> > <https://www.linkedin.com/in/phmontoyamaya/>
> >> >
> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 09:59:14 -0600
> >> > From: H?ctor Reyes Bonilla <hreyes at uabcs.mx>
> >> > To: Belize TREC <trec at hotmail.com>
> >> > Cc: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> >> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral regeneration projects
> >> > Message-ID:
> >> >         <CADHKcUurODA8YEghpDZy=
> >> > cLz4rbCw238b6Ai+XRpQOUWmRz0hg at mail.gmail.com>
> >> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >> >
> >> > saludos a todos.
> >> >
> >> > let me share an extra observation based on our experience in mexico,
> >> that
> >> > supports the idea that to break corals for "restoration" is a (probaby
> >> > very) bad idea.
> >> >
> >> > reproduction in corals is based on colony size, not age. we have
> >> observed
> >> > that tagged colonies of pocillopora with a diameter about 12-15 cm are
> >> > sexually active in summer-fall, but if the colony suffer some damage
> >> > (hurricanes, divers, anchors), quickly "abort" the gametes, probably
> >> > because the energy expense become too high for a smaller number of
> >> polyps.
> >> > according to the literature, this is not exclusive of this genus but
> >> > probably a pattern in scleractinians.
> >> >
> >> > in short, if relatively small colonies of branching corals (and
> >> probably of
> >> > massive corals too) are used as "donors" because they are abundant and
> >> stop
> >> > reproducing at least for (let?s say) one year, it is quite possible
> that
> >> > the restoration project may win one branch, but lose several (who
> knows
> >> how
> >> > many) natural recruits at the same time. if we consider that mortality
> >> is
> >> > stable in time, a fast calculation shows that instead of winning, the
> >> > "restoration project" may be decreasing the capability of the
> >> population to
> >> > survive in the long term.
> >> >
> >> > why not use naturally produced fragments ("corals of opportunity")
> >> instead?
> >> >
> >> > Hector Reyes
> >> >
> >> > El vie, 2 jul 2021 a las 2:40, Belize TREC via Coral-List (<
> >> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>) escribi?:
> >> >
> >> > > To the best of my knowledge a large review of the subject has shown
> >> only
> >> > > about 1% of such coral restoration projects have increased coral
> >> after 5
> >> > > years. Prove the science first before large restoration projects are
> >> > > implemented. There is money to be made by offering recreational
> SCUBA
> >> > > divers the chance to feel they have helped coral reefs when there is
> >> > very,
> >> > > very limited evidence this is true. Threatening LIBAL suits is
> >> > intimidation.
> >> > > Ken Mattes
> >> >
> >> > Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 21:54:16 -1000
> >> > From: Nicole Crane <nicrane at cabrillo.edu>
> >> > To: H?ctor Reyes Bonilla <hreyes at uabcs.mx>
> >> > Cc: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >,
> >> >         Belize TREC <trec at hotmail.com>
> >> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral regeneration projects
> >> > Message-ID:
> >> >         <CAAC1_xK0h27J+aym6-wZiMk2cmFu0JP-qs9WaK7VM=
> >> > jo3W3E_w at mail.gmail.com>
> >> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >> >
> >> > Dear all,
> >> > Thank you Hector for these thoughts. I would like to echo concerns
> about
> >> > methods for fragging coral.  I hear organizations, environmental
> >> consulting
> >> > firms, and even lawyers and expert witnesses tout the efficacy of
> large
> >> > scale coral restoration projects with little good science to back that
> >> up,
> >> > and very little attention paid to the potential negative impacts.  I
> >> very
> >> > much understand and sympathize with the arguments that given the rate
> of
> >> > decline of reefs, and the need to restore damaged ones, some coral is
> >> > better than none and fragging, in any way, can help achieve that.
> >> However
> >> > I am concerned by some of these efforts, and the lack of attention to
> >> good
> >> > science that may better guide them.  In addition, I see a growing (and
> >> > alarming) belief that damaged reefs are overall not so concerning
> >> anymore
> >> > because a restoration project can bring them back.  This is obviously
> >> not
> >> > the case, and though coral biologists might recognize this problem,
> lay
> >> > people, lawyers, developers etc. may seize that idea to make poorn
> >> > arguments and even fund restoration projects that are ill conceived.
> >> > best
> >> > Nicole
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Nicole L. Crane
> >> > Faculty, Cabrillo College
> >> > Natural and Applied Sciences
> >> > www.cabrillo.edu/~ncrane
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Senior Conservation Scientist, Project co-lead
> >> > One People One Reef
> >> > onepeopleonereef.org
> >> >
> >> >
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list