Reef Rebuilding For All
Here are some of the reef rebuilding methods that those involved in TRACC conservation efforts, lead by Professor Steve Oakley, helped to develop. They are designed for easy building that anyone can be shown how to do, using inexpensive materials available to local communities.
They aren't designed to be technologically the best, just accessible to everyday people. Those people can then take ownership of the bit of ocean on their doorstep, retain some control over their livelihoods, which are otherwise at risk or already non-existent, and kickstart the knock-on effects of a healthy reef system on pelagic biomass and ocean balance. Sometimes it doesn't take a superhero to save the world, just everyday people, one bottle reef at a time...
Volunteers at TRACC may not arrive knowing their slump from their aggregate, or what constitutes a good cure - but those who are into reef building are Concrete Masters by the time they leave. Turtle Reefs, Bottle Reefs and Coral Biscuits all depend on concrete as the substrate on which the new coral will grow.
Steve plus volunteers are creating a mould here, with which to make Turtle Reefs. So-called due to their turtle shell shape. The idea is to create a smooth, hollow "half-shell." Turtle Reef variations can then be created both inside, (for a smaller, denser unit, more suited to areas with stronger current), or outside (for a larger, more cave-like structure, better suited to calmer water with a flat bottom).
Khairul, Pak Cik and Palten are adding reinforcement to the paper covered mould, in the form of chicken wire and rebar.
Inside Turtle Reefs are made by flipping the mould upside down so it resembles a big bowl, lining it with newspaper and filling it with concrete. But here's where it gets fun. Every single Turtle Reef is unique - rolled up cardboard, bags full of sand, glass bottles, egg boxes, take-away cartons, coconut shells, anything really, can be used to create tunnels and rooms, different textures and hidey holes within the concrete - it's like making a fish condominium! The only constant is that every Turtle Reef needs a hole in the top or wave action will mean it won't stay in one place on the sea floor.
That square bit on the side of this Turtle Reef is made from an egg box and creates a great surface for algae and corals to attach to, as well as sheltered places for small crustaceans and invertebrates to hide and lay their eggs.
All plastic (in the form of bags full of sand and take-away cartons) is used to create shapes only and removed before the Turtle Reef goes into the sea.
Bottle Reefs are concrete blocks with glass bottles embedded in them. The concrete provides stability and a substrate for coral to grow on, while the bottles provide height, attachment sites for hard corals and sheltered spaces for small fish and other invertebrates, molluscs, annelids, anything little really.
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