CoralGardening stands for… Educate, Protect, Restore

November 14, 2016 | Event| Flora and fauna | Patrick

Coral reefs: vital for people and nature

coral reefs are one of the most beautiful natural areas out there! It is as if you are underwater in a completely different world. You will encounter hundreds of animal species: from clownfish to turtles, from colorful nudibranchs to sharks and of course the coral itself. And all that in and around that spectacular coral reef.

Coral reefs are not only beautiful, but also vital for people and nature. They are a source of food and income for almost 1 billion people. Coral reefs also act as coastal protection and shelter for fish and other marine life. They are the nurseries of the ocean.
Despite being so beautiful and important, they are used worldwide with extinction threatened which is why CoralGardening is committed to restoring and protecting coral reefs.

Educate

Making young and old aware of the importance of the oceans and how we ourselves can contribute to a healthy(er) ecosystem.

CoralGardening do this by:

Giving lectures for companies, associations etc.
Telling at schools, both in the Netherlands and on location.
Divers tell what problems are and how to dive in a good, responsible way.
Make Dive Masters and Instructors aware of diving consequences and how to educate their guests/students on responsible diving.
Hang and distribute posters.

protect

It is always better to protect existing reefs than to build new ones.
Protection is always done in consultation with local authorities, such as DMCR (kind of Thai Rijkswaterstaat),

diving communities, fishermen and other NGOs. In Thailand we work together with e.g. Greenfins

(partnership is currently being worked on).
Protect can be done by:

• Create and place buoy lines to tie boats to instead of throwing anchors.

• Setting areas where fishing and/or diving/snorkeling is not allowed.

• Set up guidelines, such as no feeding fish, no buying ocean souvenirs, no

throw garbage overboard.
Self-regulation or need to be controlled by government agencies.

• Waste that is discharged directly into the sea from resorts and that negatively affects coral reefs

affected, think of waste water. Much consultation with resort owners and governments to

to develop better waste management and construction policies or to address the current situation.

• Address erosion from land so that no sediment flows into the ocean. This can be done

plant grass and coconut trees.

• In some countries fishing is still done with dynamite. How can you do that together with local

put a stop to the population?

• Investigate the causes of coral reef degradation and, if possible, the cause

tackle.

Restore

Restoring coral reefs. Coral needs a hard solid surface to grow on

to grow. This substrate can be made using simple methods, such as:

reinforcing bars, "reefbals", ropes, etc. to a very beautiful sculpture garden like we do.
After the subsoil has been laid, coral can be grown on it by 2 methods:

The cuttings – just like a plant on land, removing a piece of coral from an existing coral or

take an already broken off piece and fix it on the new surface.

Advantage fast way to grow coral.
Disadvantage has the same DNA as original coral, cannot reproduce with "mother" coral

Flowers and bees method – Collecting sperm and eggs during spawning and die

rearing under safe conditions to new coral and then placing them back in the sea on

the new substrate.

Advantage of new DNA, can adapt to new circumstances through evolution.
Disadvantage spawning is only a few times a year, depending on the type of coral and it takes longer for sperm and eggs to grow into a new coral.

Read on our website what the problems are, how it is that the reefs are threatened with extinction, how we CoralGardening ensure a sustainable solution and, above all, how you can contribute.

Be sure to visit our stand and let your children enjoy one of the workshops during the Duikvaker.

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