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New
Coral Reef Habitat Monday, December 13, 2004 New coral reef habitat Should you be fortunate enough find yourself gazing out from Vila Ombak Diving Academy, across the sparkling seas to Mount Rinjani in Lombok, you will be sure to notice the bright pink marker buoys which denote the location of the Gili Islands first ever Bio Rock artificial reef installation. Co-conceived by coral expert Tom Goreau and architect Wolf Hilbertz, Bio Rock, or Electric Reef installations, have proven successful in creating new coral reef habitat, not only in Indonesia, but in numerous locations around the region. At the suggestion of Cody Shwaiko, and with the support of Bali Hai Diving Adventures, Tom and Wolf visited Gili Trawangan to assess the areas suitability for a trial installation. All indications were, that “Bio Rock” would be feasible in this location. Funded by Vila Ombak Diving Academy and made possible only by the generous donation of the time and expertise of Tom, Wolf, Cody and Global Coral Reef Alliance, coupled with the energy and enthusiasm of Jo McFarlane and Jesper Meyer, Vila Ombak Diving Academy’s management team, the Gili Islands first installation began to take shape on Nov 21, 2004. Sometimes referred to as ‘Coral Arks’ due to their characteristic of rapidly providing new havens for fish and corals in areas where human impact has reduced coral reef habitat, the new artificial reef on Gili Trawangan was constructed using steel bars and copper wiring to produce a tunnel like steel frame. Electrodes are attached to transfer low voltage electricity into the sea water in contact with the steel. Using an onshore power source, (Although solar panels can also provide the power required) the voltage compares to that of 60-100 watt light bulb. In combination with an anode and cathode, the electric current causes dissolved minerals in sea water to crystallize, forming a limestone coating over the exposed steel, onto which coral larvae are able to settle. In order to accelerate the process, the Vila Ombak Diving Academy team collected live coral fragments already detached from surrounding healthy reef, and physically attached them to the structure, a process sometimes referred to as “seeding” The electric stimulation of these coral fragments, has in some cases, been shown to result in growth rates three to five times that of unstimulated coral. Some studies have indicated stimulated corals may also be more tolerant to changes in surrounding water temperature. “Stakeholder and community support is imperative to the success of any environmental initiative. We are fortunate the Kepala Dusun, or village head on Gil Trawangan, Mr. Taufik, is a SCUBA Diver himself. Taufik understands both the value of the Gili Islands Coral Reef assets to his community and the threat to the Coral reefs on a global scale. In addition, the local marine patrol “SATGAS”, funded by the Gili Eco Trust, will be key in the ongoing success of the project” On November 23rd with the assistance of the local community, and with a hard earned sense of achievement, Jo, Jesper and the Vila Ombak Diving team lowered the completed structure carefully into place. Taufik was given the honor of becoming the first diver to seed the structure with a coral fragment. “Within just 16 hours of the introduction of electricity, there was a visible white film around forming on the exposed steel. In some ways, the structure resembles an underwater Christmas tree adorned with carefully attached coral decorations! Moorish idols and Damsel Fish were already winding their way in and out of the structure. A fantastic green and yellow miamiridae nudibranch had also found a new home.” Taufik provided the finishing touches by painting a succinct message on the surface marker buoys ‘Keep and Protect this Place’ and the installation was complete. An open forum and evening screening, highlighting other successful Biorock projects, was held at Hotel Vila Ombak, in the hope of inspiring all dive resorts, hotel owners and the island community to team together and create a larger electric reef installation sometime in 2005. “Our goal was to create something tangible, to demonstrate to everyone just one of the techniques available to secure and augment the coral reef assets of regions such as the Gil Islands.” said Jo. Vila Ombak Diving Academy are now providing a signature Coral Reef Education Program, which includes learning about how coral reef communities are created, current global threats to coral reef and the future of the reef. The program also includes an interpreted dive or snorkel on the structure and the opportunity to attach a coral fragment. If you would like to get involved, please contact Jo and Jesper, Tel :(+62) 0370 638 531/ SMS: (+62) 081 338 536 804 http://news.giliislands.com/2004/12/new-coral-reef-habitat.html |
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