Saving Coral Reefs in Indonesia
Some good news for a change…
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The EcoReefs cover several thousand square feet of sea floor. According to Mark Erdmann, their installation was one of the highlights of his career. “These areas of the reef had been bombed in the 1970s, mostly by people from Sulawesi,” he’d told me. “But even after all this time, there was no recovery. The villagers didn’t understand why this was so; hadn’t they been forgiven?” The reason is that reefs are bombed where there are the most fish–and fish are attracted to a strong current. But that current also makes it hard for corals to grow back.”
The villagers asked for help rehabilitating the area, and Erdmann’s team crafted a Seacology proposal. Six hundred modules were brought over, and the local dive operators and community worked together to install them. “It was fantastic,” Erdmann said. “Everyone, from little kids to grandparents, helped out. Then the dive operators came again, to do the underwater installation.”
On land, EcoReefs look attractive but artificial, like contemporary sculpture. Nearly two years later, they’re something else entirely: a hybrid of technology and organic life, like Jeff Goldblum at the end of The Fly. Their antler-shaped arms are covered with baby corals and sponges, more varieties than I can count. Parrotfish, Moorish idols and clownfish have set up shop beneath their limbs; two tiger cowries nestle near one’s center.
One of the techniques used to jump-start growth on the EcoReefs was “coral tranplants.” Chunks of loose coral were physically attached to the EcoReefs with little plastic ties. Oddly, those modules have done no better than the ones left to their own devices. No one knows why; perhaps corals, like delicate houseplants, favor a specific angle to the sun. When that orientation is lost, the polyps wallow in confusion.
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In my early days as a diver I’d heard that damaged reefs would take a century to re-grow. It’s mind-boggling to see how fast these corals are returning. Moore has a lot of faith in his reefs–”If we build them, they will come”–but this growth would probably exceed his wildest dreams.
An hour later, back on the boat, Christiane lights a clove cigarette and shakes her head. “It’s incredible,” she says. “There are all kinds of fish; much more diversity than when I visited last. And at least two kinds of corals: acrophora, and millephora. Millephora, fire coral, is an especially good sign, because it means big boulders–coral heads–will grow. The whole area will become the foundation for a new reef. This is exactly what everybody was wishing for.”