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Press Release How to Build a Beach Maldives, May 20, 2004—At a ocean resort hotel in the Maldives, where beach erosion is threatening the very existence of the island, a strange phenomenon is happening—the beach is actually growing, more than 50 feet in just two years. In this, the world’s lowest country, where all of the islands are barely above sea level and in danger of one day being submerged, architects and scientists have found a way to stem the flood that erodes beaches, protecting the endangered island. The beach was washing away, so the resort invested in stacking thousands of expensive sand bags. The bags were soon shredded by waves rendering them useless while contaminating the beach with plastic debris, while the beach vanished almost entirely. The owners then took a chance on a new technology called the Biorock™ Process. Using safe, low voltage electricity, this method grows corals on manmade reefs much faster than in natural conditions. The project, which is 140 feet long, is located at the Banyan Tree Ihuru Tourist Resort. Named the "Necklace", it is the first stage in a master plan to protect beaches from erosion by encircling the entire island with live, manmade structures that grow into natural coral reefs.
In the first stages, the reef structure, made of ordinary construction reinforcing steel bars, was open and provided little resistance to waves. Because of the Biorock Technology, solid limestone and transplanted coral fragments soon began growing on the structure forming a natural live coral reef. As the reef structure slowed down the waves passing through it, reducing wave energy, the seawater began to drop suspended sand at the shoreline thereby expanding the beach.
Dense quantities of fish find protection in the natural reef environment making the new reef an enormous tourist attraction for snorkelers. The structure, partly buried in sand, caused the beach to grow 15 meters in two years.
Corals grown with this unique Biorock Process are much more tolerant of warming oceans and other environmental problems. Most corals growing on the Necklace survived recent catastrophic bleaching that killed 99% of the corals on surrounding reefs. The most outstanding feature, however, is that corals grow up to four times faster on Biorock reefs because of unique chemical conditions provided by growing mineral layers. Biorock technology, developed by Prof. Wolf Hilbertz and Dr. Tom Goreau of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, is the basis for successful marine reef building projects in various locations in Indonesia including Bali as well as in Mexico, Panama, Thailand, the Seychelles, and Saya de Malha Bank in the Indian Ocean. Master coral gardener and seascaper Azeez Abdul Hakeem, Marine Advisor to the resort, was involved in this and other Biorock restoration projects from the beginning and takes care of daily operations. Reefs built with the Biorock Process, actually get stronger with age while providing unique ecological benefits. Restored coral reefs attract all forms of marine life and are self-repairing. The cost of the Maldives project was only a few percent of concrete barricades, which would have been barren of life. Coastal erosion is accelerating worldwide, threatening whole countries. Successful application of Biorock technology can protect island nations from disappearing due to global warming and rising sea levels, while restoring coral reefs and fisheries.
About GCRA and Biorock: Photography by Azeez A. Hakeem and Wolf Hilbertz Editor Note: For more information regarding this Maldives project, see: http://www.globalcoral.org/MALDIVES%20SHORELINES.%20GROWING%20A%20BEACH.htm http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-1-102-1903.jsp http://www.globalcoral.org/Most%20Unique%20Reef%20System%20in%20South%20East%20Asia.pdf http://gulfnews.com/Articles/print2.asp?ArticleID=120271 Contacts: Jeff Houdret houdret2@verizon.net 215-822-8739 (USA) Azeez Hakeem a.azeez@banyantree.com Wolf Hilbertz biorock@wolfhilbertz.com Tom Goreau goreau@bestweb.net Biorock™ is a trademark of Biorock, Inc.
Global Coral Reef Alliance, 37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Telephone: 617-864-4226 617-864-0433 E-mail: goreau@bestweb.net Web site: http://www.globalcoral.org |
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