Eco-conscious, soft-luxury island resort, Nova Maldives, known for its commitment to sustainable initiatives, has announced the launch of an enhanced coral restoration initiative around its house reef. This latest endeavour builds upon the island resort’s existing coral plantation programme, allowing guests to safeguard the local marine ecosystem through direct, hands-on participation.
Taking an innovative approach to increase the survival rates of freshly-planted coral colonies and to mitigate the effects of rising ocean temperatures, the island resort is introducing a newly completed depth-adjustable coral nursery installation. Over the next few weeks, Nova’s resident marine biology team will lead multiple planting sessions, to plant hardy coral fragments collected from the surrounding waters onto the nursery structures. These coral “seeds” will grow and thrive in the protected nursery environment before eventually being transplanted to designated repopulation sites on Nova’s house reef, which will one day become the backbone of the local reef ecosystem.
Coral bleaching refers to the phenomenon where corals lose their vibrant colours and turn white, which occurs when corals begin to lose symbiotic algae within their tissue, which is conducive to their survival. This happens when corals experience thermal stress, induced by rising ocean temperatures due to climate change.
“This April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed a repeat of the 2016 warming event, and our oceans are currently experiencing their fourth bleaching event. Our new construction is expected to decrease mortality among infant coral buds throughout the early stages of colony growth, giving them a better chance to flourish and develop into maturity.” said Toby Corren, Resident Marine Biologist at Nova Maldives. “We hope to take direct action to cultivate the next generation of corals and support the vibrant marine ecosystem that the Maldives is so well known for. “
