Corals restored through transplantation

MANILA, Philippines – Environmentalists are trying to glue back the ocean’s rainforest, one coral fragment at a time.

Through the combined effort of local communities, businesses and government agencies, conservationists are looking to revive the country’s reef system using nails, epoxy clay, cable ties and coral fragments.

The process is known as coral transplantation, which kick-starts as well as shortens the recovery time of a reef compared to the natural process of sexual reproduction.

It primarily involves the nursing of coral fragments from different parts of the islands, and gluing them back to the ocean floor.

This asexual reproduction technology gives environmentalists a bigger chance of hastening reef recovery as opposed to a success rate of 10 percent through the natural process, according to Melvin Carlos, director for technology transfer and promotion at the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARD).

“We’ve been doing a lot of research for reproduction, but we realized in 2011 that it was going to take so much time,” Carlos said.

Taking the principle of asexual reproduction technology, he said they innovated and tested how it would work in Philippine conditions.

The use of epoxy in coral transplantation was first tested by the DOST in partnership with the University of San Carlos in 2012.

Carlos said an epoxy clay produced by Republic Chemical Industries Inc. (RCI) yielded superior results as it was versatile enough to use underwater but did not release toxic chemicals.

Pioneer’s Epoxy Clay Aqua has since been used in 20 sites all over the country, including reef sites in Boracay, Camiguin, Zamboanga and General Santos, in the two phases of the DOST-PCAARD Coral Restoration program.

Coral transplantation with the use of epoxy yielded a success rate at an average of 95 percent, withholding the effects of unforeseeable natural forces.

The DOST initially set a target of transplanting 30,000 fragments in Puerto Princesa alone, as well as establishing  10 coral nursery units (CNU) through the help of the local community and other shareholders.

As of April 2016, around 11,000 coral fragments have been transplanted and the 10 CNU target has been met, with 5,000 materials ready for process.

Unfortunately, coral bleaching, brought about by rising water temperatures from El Niño phenomenon, also wiped out some 95 percent of the coral nursery, with the remainder already in bleaching condition.

Bleaching is a stress condition in coral reefs that involves the breakdown of zooxanthellae algae residing within the tissues of most hard corals.

Tangdol reef, encompassing 221,912 square meters in Barangay Bancao-Bancao, Puerto Princesa, is currently reeling from the massive coral bleaching event.

An estimated 90 percent of the corals in this reef were affected by the bleaching event, which may have started in late May, with some corals currently dead and overgrown with algae, according to the Puerto Princesa City Agricultural Office.

Public-private partnership

Tangdol Reef was the chosen kick-off site for the partnership between the Pioneeer Adhesives Foundation Inc. (PAFI), an affiliate of RCI, and the DOST for its reef restoration program.

The partners have come up with a six-month plan for the reef, which primarily involves coral transplantation technology and the use of epoxy clay.

“It starts today – awareness and training on how to do the coral transplantation... hopefully when the seas are in better condition, we can proceed with the transplanting to help restore the reef. By the end of this process, we hope we would’ve been able to jumpstart the restoration of the reef,” said Martina Spakowski, PAFI executive director.

The DOST and PAFI are expected to sign a memorandum of agreement to help restore coral reefs in different parts of the country later this month.

RCI has committed to donating 2,500 tubes of the epoxy to the local government of Puerto Princesa, which is expected to aid the transplantation of at least 12,500 coral fragments.

PAFI will also donate solar-powered buoys for deployment in Tangdol Reef to protect the coral nursery and surrounding areas.

Carlos said they are adapting public-private partnership (PPP) models in the future to help the restoration of coral reefs in the country.

“We’re also moving toward PPPs in the business sector who would like to pitch in for the national effort. After all, this is not just a government responsibility,” he said.

The Philippines, Carlos said, stands to lose billions of pesos in revenue if it does not take care of its vast coral resources.

A healthy coral reef spanning only a square kilometer generates an estimated P2.5 million in income from fishing and tourism, data from the World Bank’s Philippine Environment Monitor in 2005 showed.

With more than 26,000 square kilometers of coral cover in the country, coral reefs can contribute P70 billion to the economy per annum.

Sadly, however, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources estimated that only 10 percent of the coral cover in the Philippines is healthy.

“A lot of people love the beach. We Filipinos love the beach, but I think sometimes we forget what’s underneath. It is the corals. The fish depend on the corals,” Spakowski said.

DOST-PCAARD is planning Phase 3 of its Coral Restoration Program, which will cover the whole Philippines.