4 ms·

Indonesia coral reef partially restored in extensive project

110 points by orblivion 5y ago

orblivion 5y ago
I keep seeing stories about reef disappearing on here so I thought this would be good to see as well.
- pstuart 5y ago
  Just enough hope to not give up, yet not so much as to let off pressure to fix things.
UncleOxidant 5y ago
Not a lot of details here other than the "reef stars" which provide a substrate for new coral growth. But what led to the coral death in the first place? Probably warmer water - not sure how this helps with that unless they're attaching species that can do well in warmer water (such as corals from the red sea, for example). There could have been other issues that led to coral death in that area such as an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphates from fertilizer runoff - unless that's addressed it's going to keep happening.
- Alex3917 5y ago
  > But what led to the coral death in the first place? Probably warmer water Building resorts near the water isn't compatible with having living reefs. Not to mention that not only does Indonesia not ban reef-toxic sunscreen, stores don't even sell reef-safe sunscreen.
- sphericalgames 5y ago
  Dynamite fishing is the number 1 cause of coral reef destruction in Indonesia. Search for "blast fishing in Indonesia" - there are plenty of youtube videos of the devastation this causes. They now have protected areas that have zero tolerance to blast fishing with regular patrols and long sentences if caught. Such protected areas are thriving in coral.
- freeflight 5y ago
  To add to your list of possible causes: Ocean acidification [0] [0] https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/22324/20190610/ocean-acidification-is-killing-coral-reefs.htm https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/22324/20190610/ocean-a...
- michael1999 5y ago
  Cyanide fishing. Ugh.
jhauris 5y ago
DDG returned a forbes article which has much more information about the project[1]. Maybe my search prowess isn't very good, but that's the best I could find (it presents the information much more easily than the Sheba project page). The reef stars are seeded with reef fragments, which can be easily grown in tanks. They say that they are using 42 "types" of coral. These frags will likely grow really quickly, and fill the area with coral. It's really great to see so much money and effort that uses local resources to help restore the reefs. This will could really help kickstart reef restoration in the areas. I wish I could find more detailed information on the project; if the 42 "types" are from 42 unique source corals, and they are of different species, it seems like a limited improvement. Corals can't reproduce with their own clones. If it is the case it's from 42 sources, then while this will definitely help restore the environment in the short term, it may be of limited long-term help, particularly if the sources of destruction are not addressed. 1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2021/05/05/the-sheba-hope-reef-brings-hope-to-coral-reefs-everywhere-you-can-help-too/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2021/05/05/the-sheb...
- dang 5y ago
  Ok, we've changed the URL to that from https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-56985594 https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-56985594 above. Thanks!
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  I recently watched a new Nova episode about scientists trying to find and/or breed and deploy heat-resistant coral to maintain certain imperiled ecosystems. It’s really interesting and relevant to anyone who is interested in this sort of thing.
- senectus1 5y ago
  how does this ensure success when the oceans are warming and rising, acidifying and being illegally/over fished still? We haven't fixed the reason the reef's died in the first place.
  - jws 5y ago
chris_overseas 5y ago
There's also this article about coral reef restoration in Belize that also sounds like some rare good news for corals: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210430-the-woman-who-rescues-caribbean-coral https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210430-the-woman-who-re... It's interesting to see how they've learned to grow the coral quicker and more effectively.
darth_avocado 5y ago
Jesus Forbes, I can barely read the article, there's just so much crap on the screen. bah.
- airstrike 5y ago
  Here you go https://outline.com/pCLMtG https://outline.com/pCLMtG
BruceM 5y ago
There was a nice survey article last year: Coral restoration – A systematic review of current methods, successes, failures and future directions: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226631 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... We still have a lot to learn!

110 points by orblivion 5y ago

orblivion 5y ago

I keep seeing stories about reef disappearing on here so I thought this would be good to see as well.

pstuart 5y ago
Just enough hope to not give up, yet not so much as to let off pressure to fix things.

UncleOxidant 5y ago

Not a lot of details here other than the "reef stars" which provide a substrate for new coral growth. But what led to the coral death in the first place? Probably warmer water - not sure how this helps with that unless they're attaching species that can do well in warmer water (such as corals from the red sea, for example). There could have been other issues that led to coral death in that area such as an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphates from fertilizer runoff - unless that's addressed it's going to keep happening.

Alex3917 5y ago
> But what led to the coral death in the first place? Probably warmer water Building resorts near the water isn't compatible with having living reefs. Not to mention that not only does Indonesia not ban reef-toxic sunscreen, stores don't even sell reef-safe sunscreen.
sphericalgames 5y ago
Dynamite fishing is the number 1 cause of coral reef destruction in Indonesia. Search for "blast fishing in Indonesia" - there are plenty of youtube videos of the devastation this causes. They now have protected areas that have zero tolerance to blast fishing with regular patrols and long sentences if caught. Such protected areas are thriving in coral.
freeflight 5y ago
To add to your list of possible causes: Ocean acidification [0] [0] https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/22324/20190610/ocean-acidification-is-killing-coral-reefs.htm https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/22324/20190610/ocean-a...
michael1999 5y ago
Cyanide fishing. Ugh.

jhauris 5y ago

DDG returned a forbes article which has much more information about the project[1]. Maybe my search prowess isn't very good, but that's the best I could find (it presents the information much more easily than the Sheba project page). The reef stars are seeded with reef fragments, which can be easily grown in tanks. They say that they are using 42 "types" of coral. These frags will likely grow really quickly, and fill the area with coral. It's really great to see so much money and effort that uses local resources to help restore the reefs. This will could really help kickstart reef restoration in the areas. I wish I could find more detailed information on the project; if the 42 "types" are from 42 unique source corals, and they are of different species, it seems like a limited improvement. Corals can't reproduce with their own clones. If it is the case it's from 42 sources, then while this will definitely help restore the environment in the short term, it may be of limited long-term help, particularly if the sources of destruction are not addressed. 1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2021/05/05/the-sheba-hope-reef-brings-hope-to-coral-reefs-everywhere-you-can-help-too/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2021/05/05/the-sheb...

dang 5y ago
Ok, we've changed the URL to that from https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-56985594 https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-56985594 above. Thanks!
throwaway894345 5y ago
I recently watched a new Nova episode about scientists trying to find and/or breed and deploy heat-resistant coral to maintain certain imperiled ecosystems. It’s really interesting and relevant to anyone who is interested in this sort of thing.
senectus1 5y ago
how does this ensure success when the oceans are warming and rising, acidifying and being illegally/over fished still? We haven't fixed the reason the reef's died in the first place.
- jws 5y ago

chris_overseas 5y ago

There's also this article about coral reef restoration in Belize that also sounds like some rare good news for corals: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210430-the-woman-who-rescues-caribbean-coral https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210430-the-woman-who-re... It's interesting to see how they've learned to grow the coral quicker and more effectively.

darth_avocado 5y ago

Jesus Forbes, I can barely read the article, there's just so much crap on the screen. bah.

airstrike 5y ago
Here you go https://outline.com/pCLMtG https://outline.com/pCLMtG

BruceM 5y ago

There was a nice survey article last year: Coral restoration – A systematic review of current methods, successes, failures and future directions: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226631 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... We still have a lot to learn!