February 2019 roughly marks two-and-a-half years for Velaa
Private Islands Coral Restoration Project. In 2016, a global bleaching event
affected almost 60% of the Maldivian reefs. The resort hopes to help speed up
the recovery of the house reef by restoring the ecological integrity,
conducting scientific research on nursery and transplant progress and testing
the concept of midwater floating nurseries, which can hold over 10,000 coral
fragments at full capacity. By increasing the amount of coral on the islands house
reef, the project team intends to attract new recruits, and increase the
abundance of fish and apex predators and help stabilize the reef.
The project has trialed both net and rope nurseries utilizing two different
hanging methods, and are yet to identify the most effective method to eradicate
fouling organisms in their nurseries to fulfill the aim of a 100 % survival
rate.
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