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Coral Reef re-establishment with
Eco-Coral™. Attempts to create
artificial reefs or to repair accidental damage seem to ignore the fact that
coral reefs are actually complex systems of many participating organisms. The image below, taken on
the reef wall at Artificial reef designs
primarily cater to sanctuary for fish without considering why fish inhabit
reefs. Most concrete type
artificial reefs have variable pH and do not become colonized by reef creatures
despite, in some cases having had coral fragments cemented to them – see below. It is clear that placing
large quantities of this material in the sea does not constitute reef
remediation or re-establishment. Unless the artificial reef
material is pH neutral to the sea, reef creatures do not colonize them. Below
are two images from experiments in the Capones reef, the first image shows an
Eco-Coral™ unit which was compounded to have a pH of 8.6-8.8, the second image
is a standard Eco-Coral™ unit with a pH of 7.9-8.2. Both images show the inside
of the units after 21 weeks in the reef. Note the total lack of colonization on
the high pH unit and the abundance of life in the standard, sea neutral unit. ICRI
Resolution on Artificial Coral Reef Restoration and Rehabilitation This
Resolution was tabled and discussed at the ICRI General Meeting in Wednesday,
27 April 2005. It was approved after 14 days of further discussion on the ICRIForum. The
resolution noted – Agrees that artificial systems cannot replace a natural coral reef and do not function as effectively as a living reef; Concerned about the lack of adequate scientific evidence about the ecological and economic effectiveness of most of these techniques and solutions; Until the invention of Eco-Coral™ the above
comments are valid, however this overview will show that using the “Reef
Nursery” approach artificial reef modules may be used in large scale
Restoration and Rehabilitation. The image below demonstrates that Eco-Coral™ units
assimilate rapidly into existing reefs, which is precisely the basis for the
“Reef Nursery’. The background is the Capones reef wall, the foreground
is an Eco-Coral™ unit after 21 weeks in the reef. What is
the “Reef Nursery” system? We at Technostrat
Corporation believe that the only way to rapidly expand coral reefs to
ameliorate damage and replace lost reefs is by ‘farming’ the existing reefs in
a passive, non-destructive manner. This is possible due to the unique ability of
Eco-Coral™ to be placed in a reef, become colonized and then to be transported
to the target remediation site and acclimatized and deployed there. We believe that for each colonized Eco-Coral™ unit
some 20 non-colonized units may be clustered with it in the target area and
these will be colonized in turn by the creatures on the colonized units. A recent further deployment at Capones Reef shows
the reaction of fish to the Eco-Coral™ units. See images below. These fellows have made their home inside an
Eco-Coral™ unit. See the fish already checking out a new deployment. These
units had just been placed some minutes earlier. Current plans are for Technostrat to deploy a
further 1,000 units of Eco-Coral™ at Capones Reef and to establish another
trial nursery at Badoc Island in Ilocos Norte, Philippines, in conjunction with
the Mariano Marcos State University. This will be a Reef Restoration Extension
Facility of the University complete with shore side research facility and guest
house lodge for visiting researchers. Here it will be possible to recover
Eco-Coral™ units at various stages of colonization and study them in the
laboratory tanks. It is proposed to present data from these projects
at ICRS 2008 as part of our
contribution to IYOR 2008. More information about ECO-Coral™ can be found at
the website Using
Eco-Coral™ to expand a damaged reef. In reefs which have suffered damage from human
activity, storm or temperature rises Eco-Coral™ may be effectively used to
expand the reef from the surviving portion without needing to transplant the
Eco-Coral™ units. Eco-Coral™ units are placed adjacent to the
existing reef sections butted up to the bommies and then deployed as a wedge
shape with the apex leading away to the area where expansion is required. If
the area is some distance away the apex of the deployed units will terminate in
a ‘pathway’ some 4-6 units wide leading to the expansion area where the
appropriate number of units will be deployed as determined by bottom
topography. Typically 2,500 units of Eco-Coral™ cover 1 hectare of seabed. Because the units are all hollow they are
attractive to fish and protect juveniles which will travel along the pathway to
the new area. Colonization of the units will commence at the live coral bommies
and will progress outward to the new reef area. At time of spawning the new
area will be effective in trapping settling eggs. Fish can also be drawn to the new reef by deploying
the Improved FAD, which is a submerged device. Protection from trawling is
effected by deploying Technostrat Anti-Trawling devices. Conclusion. Eco-Coral™
clearly demonstrates several orders of magnitude greater colonization than any
other artificial coral reef system. The Reef Nursery method of propagating
transportable coral and reef creatures and of providing fish habitat is not
only revolutionary but also shows that serious rehabilitation can commence at
once. The Badoc
Reef Nursery operated by the RREF and
the Capones Nursery will each create a new reef of 12 hectares annually (after
the initial 1-2 years colonization) with economic value of PHP3.6 million
($78,000) annually for each reef (units transferred will be replaced). After 10
years the reef area will be 84 hectares with a value of PHP25.2 million
($550,000) annually. Both reefs will be protected by the installation of
Technostrat Anti-Trawling devices and the provision of patrol boats. After the
establishment of the enlarged research nursery at This indicates that 10 Large Scale
Reef Nurseries in various parts of the world can supply, over 10 years, 280,000
hectares of reef with an annual economic output value of $US 1.68 billion. D.B.H.Stanley-Jackson. 07.14.2007 Technostrat
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