Creating a Reef

One more quick shake and the frame with the stony coral branch sits firmly on the white sand, five metres below the water’s surface. In the lagoon off the Maldives island of Niyama in Dhaalu Atoll, it has found a home in the 29-degree ocean. Given good conditions, the sprout with sky blue tips will grow so big that a new mini-reef will form with other corals within a few years. An ‘Adopt a coral’ campaign has been created that allows holiday guests to adopt newly ‘planted’ coral fragments. They can either make a donation or take part live and in person in the Indian Ocean.

The concept is becoming more and more popular in the Maldives, with many of the resorts working together with the independent organisation, ‘Reefscapers’ which has spent the last 15 years pioneering the growth of new corals. Its founders, Thomas Le Berre of France and his Maldivian wife Marie Saleem, have developed coral nurseries on metal racks with the support of Four Seasons Maldives. The project seeks to combat the effects of the climate phenomenon El Niño of 1998. At that time, up to 80 percent of the world’s shallow reefs died when ocean temperatures rose by 4 degrees.

The reefs break waves off the islands and, with their caves and crevices, they provide homes for all kinds of creatures and colourful fish. ‘Reefscapers’ have now placed more than 8,500 frames with more than half a million corals in the ocean. Their growth is being closely documented. In addition, around 20 marine biologists are researching coral species that can withstand ocean warming. In building the metal frames, a team of six Maldivians on the island of Fulhadoo in Baa Atoll can also earn money, and support their livelihoods with the artificial reefs.