29/11/2025
🌊 Coral Regeneration Update!
In partnership with Cloud 9, Dulcinea Charters Fiji , and Plantation Island Resort , Corals For Conservation (C4C), the Fiji-registered NGO Charity has just completed their first "regeneration patch" as part of a series of major scientific experiments and gene banking efforts for their recent CORDAP-funded Reefs of Hope project, designed to secure as many heat adapted "super corals" as possible in the face of climate change and severe marine heat waves. The project moves bleaching resistant corals from heat stressed nearshore waters where they face death during severe marine heat waves and out to the cooler waters found around Cloud 9.
With staff from each partner assisting with the work, the aim is to restore reproduction to declining coral species while creating habitat for the development of abundant fish populations, which in turn will help regenerate the reef by removing seaweeds and cleaning reef surfaces to enable baby corals to settle readily. The reef regeneration patches consist of 9 x 3 meter ropes planted with heat-adapted “super corals” and secured to 4 A-frame structures. Well-anchored for cyclone resistance, the patches regenerate life on the barren sand and nearby reefs. Stone and concrete 'fish houses" made by children at the resort are also installed around the patches to provide settlement surfaces for baby corals as part of the research. The corals of the patches emit strong settlement signals irresistible to drifting coral larvae, causing them to settle, thus accelerating natural recovery. Over the coming months, schools of fish will develop and new coral larvae will begin to settle, reviving the surrounding reef.
Next steps involve installing at least 3 more regeneration patches and creating a large gene bank nursery composed of a new type of dome-style coral nursery, designed for harboring the maximum amount of marine life: a refuge for sea turtles and fish, elevated above the sand and thus safe from coral killing COTS. Training workshops and multiple visits from collaborating scientists are planned from mid-Jan to mid-March, with Cloud 9 and Dulcinea supporting the development and installation of the nursery and regeneration patches, providing a field base for the scientists and C4C team, as well as supporting the training and capacity building of Fijian staff. Reefs of Hope has been endorsed as an Ocean Decade Action and has also been endorsed by ICRI, the International Coral Reef Initiative. This Reefs of Hope partnership is a big step in securing endangered coral species and enabling these resilient corals to repopulate the outer reefs of Malolo District — we are building a true Noah’s Ark for corals!
The Cloud 9 nursery will back up the Bula Reef gene bank that was planted in 2024. 🌱 🐠 🌍
📷 Hemish Nadan
