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An innovative, multi-stakeholder reef restoration project that uses fragments of loose coral to build new stable areas of the reef’s live habitat kicks off this week on Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
The trial is a collaboration between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Mars Incorporated, Quicksilver Cruises and Big Cat Green Island Cruises, the Coral Nurture Program and Gungandji Traditional Owners.
It involves attaching more than 2600 coral fragments to a network of 165 sand-lined hexagonal structures on the sea floor and attaching additional coral fragments to a suitable hard substrate using coral clips developed through the Coral Nurture program.
The live fragments will then continue to grow in their new stable location and, over the next 1-3 years, will form a diverse and healthy area of coral reef where previously there was unstable dead coral rubble and bare limestone rock.
Josh Thomas, CEO of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, said the project is an exciting example of in-water actions used to restore and protect important reef ecosystems locally.
“Experimenting with coral restoration projects on the Great Barrier Reef is critically important to building the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef locally. By improving the reef’s health and resilience, it will be able to better resist a range of pressures, including climate change, “he said.
“This project also offers training opportunities in reef restoration for Reef Joint Field Management Program staff. If successful, this restoration technique could be more widely adopted where other local scale impacts occur from ship grounding, anchor damage or cyclone impacts in locally important tourist and recreational sites or areas with specific ecological values.
“This trial demonstrates the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s commitment to collaboration and innovation, as highlighted in the Reef Blueprint for Resilience, which outlines key actions to enable partners to help protect the reef’s future.”
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) regional director Tina Alderson said detailed site monitoring will be in place on the island.
“In addition to the ecosystem benefits, this trial is an excellent example of collaboration between tourism operators, marine researchers, private companies and traditional owners,” he said.
“Local tourism operators will help monitor the project with initial results expected within 12 months and data collected and shared with all partners involved.”
Alicia McArdle, Marine Program Manager for Mars Sustainable Solutions, said the reef’s metal structures were initially developed on Indonesian coral reefs, where they have been successfully used to rehabilitate more than four hectares of reef affected by destructive fishing techniques.
“As a global company, Mars is committed to doing our part in identifying solutions to improve environmental performance in the countries in which we operate. Operating in Australia for over 100 years, we are thrilled to deliver the Mars’ Assisted Reef Restoration System to Green Island and help protect the health and biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef, ”he said.
This is the first work of its kind on Green Island, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Cairns, although these same techniques have been pioneered by Mars Sustainable Solutions in other reef locations in the Cairns area as well.
The Green Island trial uses carefully prepared guidelines to protect the area’s ecological and social values. Initial results will be collected at six and 12 months, with further monitoring over the next five years.
The scalable “reef star system” to increase the resilience of the reef ecosystem was introduced by Mars Incorporated in 2011, in partnership with local communities and marine scientists around the world.
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