Attempt To Restore Japan’s Biggest Coral Reef Artificially
In a first of its kind project, scientists are attempting to revive Japan’s largest coral reef by planting thousands of baby corals growing on tiny ceramic beds.
Corals in Sekisei Lagoon stretching between the Okinawan islands of Ishigaki and Iriomote have plunged by 80 per cent over the past two decades due to rising water temperatures and damage by coral-eating starfish.
In a joint project with Japan’s environment ministry, scientists will plant some 6,000 baby corals in the seabed in December over a 600 square-metre district.
“No projects in the world have ever restored a coral reef artificially… but we aim to restore the lagoon in some 10 years,” said Mineo Okamoto, associate professor at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.
This is the world’s only large-scale attempt to restore a coral reef artificially, rather than trying to clean the environment for corals or nipping off branches of living corals for transplanting elsewhere. [Via]
Here’s keeping our fingers crossed.
