Coral Reefs – Support, Nurture, Protect, Provide

1. Global Coral Reef AllianceA non-profit corporation dedicated to growing, protecting and managing the most threatened of all marine ecosystems —Coral Reefs

2. Coral Reefs – Support, Nurture, Protect, Provide

3. Reefs are dying all over the world

4. Today, 65% of the worlds reefs are dying (US Coral Reef Task Force, NOAA)

5. Why are reefs dying? • Rising water temperatures • Sewage flows • Eutrophication • Disease • Dredging • Dynamite • Cyanide fishing • Bleaching • Physical damage

6. Consider Cancun • Only 12 families lived on this forested island until the 1970s • Then the tourist industry arrived • Today, 2.6 million people visit Cancun each year • The island is bare, its forests long gone • Sewage facilities process only one-quarter of the daily flow • The rest goes straight into the sea

7. Reefs are often covered with algae

8. Algae comes in green, brown and redBay Islands, Honduras, 2000

9. It smothers and kills healthy coral

10. Algae growth is often followed by Yellow-band disease

11. Bleaching is usually caused by rising ocean temperatures

12. Tissue is visible in the absence of symbiotic algae

13. Corals worldwide suffer from bleachingBonaire, 2001

14. BLEACHED CORALNEW GUINEA

15. Physical damage is everywhereBay Islands, Honduras, 2003

16. Cyanide fishing kills coral Healthy After cyanide exposure

17. Elkhorn and anchors don’t mix Bay Islands, Honduras, 2003

18. When reefs die… • Fish populations disappear • Fishermen lose their livelihood • Beaches and shorelines wash away • Land areas erode from waves • Tourists find somewhere else to dive • Local economies can be devastated

19. A solution for corals in peril Biorock™ Process

20. The Biorock™ ProcessCorals thrive. Even where water quality is poor

21. Biorock™/ Mineral Accretion • On underwater, conductive structures we assemble a positively charged anode and a negatively charged cathode (structure) • Apply a low voltage electric current between them • Safe for swimmers • Which causes minerals to crystallize from seawater onto structures • Calcium carbonate, white limestone (CaCO3) is formed • Similar to natural coral reefs and tropical white sand • Corals adhere to limestone and grow quickly

22. How a Biorock™ Reef works When a positively charged anode and a negatively charged cathode are suspended in sea water with an electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the structure (cathode).The result is calcium carbonate.Corals adhere to CaCO3 and grow quickly. Solar collector or other power supply Coral Fragments Anode (+) Cathode (-)Conductive Structure (CaCO3)

23. Rebar can be welded in any shape

24. When the materials are fully assembled…

25. We float it into position

26. We attach the electric cables

27. Calcium carbonate quickly forms on the structure

28. We make the frame ready for coral

29. We wire naturally broken pieces of coral to the structure

30. Coral fragments soon cover the frame

31. We monitor coral growth

32. Barnacle Reef, Maldives, 1997

33. Barnacle Reef A year later, 1998

34. Barnacle Reef, 3 years growth

35. Corals are robust and healthy

36. Fish populations move in

37. The new marine ecosystem is both balanced and healthy

38. Biorock™ Reefs attract divers

39. Biorock™ Reefs around the world • Indonesia, Bali and Komodo • Jamaica • Maldives, Ihuru and Vabbinfaru • Mexico, Yucatan • Panama, San Blas Islands • Papua New Guinea • Saya de Malha • Seychelles • Thailand, Phuket • Palau * * * * * * *

40. GCRA Projects have won international awards • The SKAL award for the best Underwater Ecotourism project worldwide. • KONAS Indonesian National Award for best community-based coastal zone management • Theodore Sperry Award, the top prize of the Society for Ecological Restoration • Maldives Environment Award

41. Shock treatment for coral restorationBy Clark Boyd Technology correspondent Coral reefs around the world are disappearing. In many places, more than 90% of corals have bleached or died. But an effort is under way to re-grow corals by giving them a bit of electro-shock therapy. It may be too late to save many of the corals Marine biologist Tom Goreau knows coral. He has been diving among the reefs since before he could walk. As the director of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, he is passionate about how extraordinary corals are Biorock™ Press

42. GCRA projects • Build, restore and maintain coral reefs in communities worst affected by loss of reefs • Build reefs for tourism • Breakwaters for shore protection • Mariculture—Oysters • Consultation—Diseases, conservation, rehabilitation

43. Funding To date……. Small cash donations from private individuals and businesses Valuable in-kind donations from the communities with which the GCRA has worked. No Salaries are drawn from GCRA funding

44. Global Coral Reef Alliance Associates • Jon Allen, GCRA Board of Directors, research engineer and instrumentation designer • Yos Amerta, Bali programs • Max Benjamin, Papua New Guinea programs • Jude Bijoux, Seychelles programs • James Cervino, Coral physiologist, field and laboratory analysis • Dan & Stefanie Clark, Florida programs • Gabriel Despaigne, Panama programs • Gerardo Garcia, Mexico programs • Marina Goreau, Children's program • Tom Goreau, GCRAPresident • Azeez. A. Hakeem, Maldives programs • Ray Hayes, GCRA Board of Advisors, coral health • Wolf Hilbertz, Reef Restoration • Jeff Houdret, GCRA Board of Advisors, marketing advisor, web issues • Narayana, Bali programs • Dr. Steven Orzack, GCRA Board of Directors, Director of the Fresh Pond Research Institute • NiphonPhongsuwan, Thailand programs • Cody Shwaiko, Komodo programs • Roque Solis, Panama programs • Dr. Robert K. Trench. Retired professor of biology at University of California at Santa Barbara • Ernest Williams, GCRA Board of Directors, Coral diseases