Jamaica’s Coral Gardens Give New Hope for Dying Reefs

[Judi Lynn]

Jamaica’s Coral Gardens Give New Hope for Dying Reefs

By Zadie Neufville



KINGSTON, Jul 13 2015 (IPS) - With time running out for Jamaica’s coral reefs, local marine scientists are taking things into their own hands, rebuilding the island’s reefs and coastal defences one tiny fragment at a time – a step authorities say is critical to the country’s climate change and disaster mitigation plans.

Five years ago, local hoteliers turned to experimental coral gardening in a desperate bid to improve their diving attractions, protect their properties from frequent storms surges and arrest beach erosion.

In 2014, their efforts were boosted when the Centre for Marine Science (CMS) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona scored a 350,000-dollar grant from the International Development Bank (IDB) for the Coral Reef Restoration Project.

Project director and coastal ecologist Dale Webber told IPS that his team will carry out genetic research, attempt to crack the secrets of coral spawning and re-grow coral at several locations across the island and at the centre’s Discovery Bay site. The project will also share the research findings with other islands as well as another IDB project, Belize’s Fragments of Hope.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/07/jamaicas-coral-gardens-give-new-hope-for-dying-reefs/

[center]





[/center]

[RiverLover]

1. This is so encouraging to read! Thanks Judi Lynn!

Its really interesting too~

....The process is tedious, as divers must tend the nurseries/gardens, removing algae from the fragments of corals as they grow. The pieces are then fixed to the reefs. The results are encouraging and many see this is an expensive but sure way to repopulate dying reefs. A combination of techniques, management measures and regeneration have boosted coral cover at Discovery Bay from five percent to 14 per cent in recent years....

Worth the time to read the article. The pics posted here are a nice bonus! So beautiful.