[Coral-List] Please post our upcoming REEF BUILDING WORKSHOP

Wed Jun 23 22:02:21 UTC 2021

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.

ome 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. Simila
- 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.

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/>

On Wed, 23 Jun 2021 at 11:40, <coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
wrote:

> Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2021 11:35:36 -0500
> From: Nohora Galvis <icri.colombia at gmail.com>
> To: Hanna Kuhfuss <hanna.kuhfuss at gmail.com>
> Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov, goreau at globalcoral.org
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Please post our upcoming REEF BUILDING
>         WORKSHOP
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CAO+JPTHT+HrpJFwCi4mz8jScX6e0iwSGi8mG+N2PkBTBPP2Hdw at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Dear Hanna,
>
> Great to know that you are advising to the Colombian Coral restoration
> practioners to use bricks instead of other unstable hanging artificial
> structures that may be destroy with thte next hurricane. This email is
> not for them to justify their practices but for their feedback.
>
> We are worry for the announcement of the current Colombian President
> of Colombia to break ONE MILLION OF CORAL FRAGMENTS to hanging them in
> ropes within Seaflower Marine Biosphere Reserve. Of course, the cost
> of ropes is cheaper but ....
>
>
> https://www.facebook.com/CorporacionCoralina/photos/pcb.4107030732697328/4106963572704044/
>
> Hanna, are you going to advise for SEAFLOWER BIOSPHERE RESERVE to keep
> some control (untouched) colonies and control sites so they can
> measure real success or faliure for the high scale experiment ? The
> rescue of coral colonies and frgaments of hope should have been done
> immediately after the hurricane category 5, not seven months after it
> and six months after dredging the Providence Channel. By the way, the
> sediment removed from the dredging operations was allowed by the local
> authorities to be deposited again on Seaflower Reserve close to good
> dive sites.
>
> According to your experience, Hanna, what scientific criteria (limits)
> applies for the fragmentation of coral colonies? Or a ratio of how
> many coral colonies that survive Hurricane Iota should not be broken
> again nor microfragmented? Are you going to point out the need to
> address FIRST global climate change and Acroporas, local pollution,
> sewage, anchoring, overfishing, military trials, etc, before
> announcing saving the coral reefs of Seaflower by breaking them?
>
> Thanks to open the debate !!!
>
> 2021-06-20 5:16 GMT-05:00, Hanna Kuhfuss via Coral-List
> <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>:
> > *REEF BUILDING WORKSHOP - LIVING SHORELINES: Green Engineering Methods
> for
> > Coral Reef Rehabilitation*
> >
> > *10 - 20 Sep 2021*
> >
> > Registration deadline: *15th of July 2021*
> >
> >
> > Hi coral-listers,
> >
> > We, rrreefs <https://www.rrreefs.com/> (a german/swiss not for profit
> > initiative) are excited to announce *our first-ever *international
> > *reef-building
> > workshop *in partnership with Corales de Paz <
> https://www.coralesdepaz.org/>
> > , taking place *this September* in *San Andr?s, Colombia*.
> >
> > This goes out to everyone interested in joining us in building the first
> > pilot reef with rrreefs? easy-to-handle 3D-printed stackable brick
> system.
> > It is a *10-day intensive full-time 100 hours hands-on, and in-water
> > practical workshop* (incl. 14 SCUBA dives). The workshop touches on coral
> > ecology, newest approaches to coral restoration and ecosystem
> > rehabilitation, appropriate design, logistics, and evaluation of a
> > restoration project. We will showcase the feasibility of construction and
> > customization, with a subsequent multi-year monitoring program. This new
> > approach of passive, structure-based reef regeneration will be combined
> > with proven active reef restoration approaches such as coral
> fragmentation,
> > gardening, and transplantation techniques perfected by Corales de Paz.
> >
> > The program will be divided into a series of classroom lessons and field
> > activities. Lessons will be held in English. All in-water field
> activities
> > will be carried out with SCUBA diving equipment.
> >
> > To download the full program for more details, costs, and other practical
> > information, please check out the Workshop brochure
> > <
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KGkr6eBavLk_5szIKXHbvCKZinLAa1xH/view?usp=sharing
> >
> > and flyer
> > <
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LKd3hwqNOVheOEp_KTbSJkjiewZCeClX/view?usp=sharing
> >
> > or visit our homepage rrreefs.com <https://www.rrreefs.com/>
> >
> > For any additional information, feel free to send an email to
> > info at rrreefs.com
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > your rrreefs team
> >
> > Hanna Kuhfuss
> >
> > Marie Griesmar
> >
> > Ulrike Pfreundt
> >
> > --
> > *HANNA KUHFUSS*
> >
> > *Co-Founder at rrreefs (NGO)*
> > rethinking-rebuilding-regenerating coral reefs
> >
> > www.rrreefs.com
> >
> >
> > *Gesch?ftsf?hrerin/Gr?nderin Aerialnauten *
> >
> > *by Schwerelos Yoga Freiburg*
> >
> > *Aerial Yoga Studio, Yoga Therapie & Training*
> > *mail schwerelosyoga.freiburg at gmail.com <
> schwerelosyoga.freiburg at gmail.com>*
> > *mobile* (+49) 177 3454 952
> > www.schwerelos-yoga.de
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>
> --
> Cordial saludo,
>
> Nohora Galvis
>
> Directora,
> Observatorio Internacional de Arrecifes Coralinos
> Fundaci?n ICRI Colombia
> Coordinadora Red Internacional de Observadores Voluntarios del Arrecife
> Follow us on:
> Facebook.com/ICRI.COLOMBIA
> Twitter @ArrecifesCoral e @ICRIcolombia
> Youtube ICRI Colombia
> https://icri-colombia.es.tl/
>
>