Lemuel R' Alfeche

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CORAL REEF RESTORATION
THROUGH CORAL TRANSPLANTATION
THE CASE OF DUKA BAY,
MEDINA, MISAMIS ORIENTAL
by Lemuel R. Alfeche Center for Marine
Biomodeling Mindanao Polytechnic State
College Panaon, Misamis Occidental Mindanao,
Philippines
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What has been done?
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• A small tryout experiment of coral
  transplantation conducted in Duka Reef Medina,
  Misamis Oriental.

• Coral reef area is estimated about 7-8 hectares.

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• Coral cover estimate of 60 live and
  rehabilitating, and 40 dead corals.

• Coral classification by dominance estimate is
  70 hard corals and 30 soft corals.

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• Community organizing and advocacy.

• Reactivation of existing fisherman association
  in area

• Creation of Barangay Fisheries and Agriculture
  Resources Management Council (BFARMC)

• Creation of Duka Reef Divers Foundation

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• Establishing a Marine Protected Area

• Municipal resolution

• Zoning and delineation of fishing areas and
  non-fishing areas.

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• Coral enhancement project

• Ocular survey in specific areas of coral
  restoration

• Training of personnel (fishermen and SCUBA
  divers)

• Construction and dispersal of 100 pieces of
  concrete blocks measuring 4x16x22

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• Fragmentation of the donor corals

• Transplanting of fragmented corals

• Tagging and measurement of transplanted corals

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• Periodic monitoring of growth and survival for
  transplanted and donor corals (experimental),
  surrounding natural corals (control), and
  bioregeneration for both fish and other forms of
  marine invertebrates.

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What RESULTS and FINDINGS
were made out from the
simple tryout experiment?
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• Transplanted corals - 1.79 cm. ave. growth per
  month

• Donor corals - 1.02 cm. ave. growth per month

• Surrounding corals - 0.92 cm. ave. growth per
  month

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• Fish abundance are increasingly observed with
  time, from 0-7 fish families, and 0-24 fish
  species.

• Invertebrates are increasingly observed with
  time, from 0-7 families and 0-8 species.

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What CONCLUSIONS were
made out from the results?
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• Coral transplantation through fragmentation is
  observed an effective method in restoring damaged
  coral reef environment. This methodology is
  particularly useful if branching coral species
  are considered. The growth increment of both
  experiments and control groups tend to support
  this conclusion.

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• The observed increase in biodiversity in terms
  of both abundance and species of fish and other
  invertebrates, lead us to surmise that such
  methodology for coral transplantation will in the
  long run, resuscitate a damaged coral reef
  environment and effectively restore the marine
  life in specific areas of the country.

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What management lessons
learned out from
the activities made?
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Despite the absence of a clear and well-organized
plan for restoring the damaged coral reef
environment of the Duka Bay through coral
transplantation, the experience has taught us
that any attempt at recovering damaged
environment can have untold positive effects. In
particular
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• The transplanted coral reef area has now become
  one of the tourist attractions of the Duka Bay
  Resort. The influx of both local and foreign
  tourist in the resort brought in revenues that
  have so far exceeded the expenses originally
  incurred by the trial experiment conducted. The
  fisherfolks who originally were responsible for
  the massive coral reef destruction, are now
  beginning to shift away from fishery exploitation
  to the more lucrative yet less harmful tourist
  industry in Medina.

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• The local fisherfolks, because of their
  familiarity with the coral reef area in the
  vicinity, became the ipso facto tourist guides.
  Income from this activity alone suffices to
  support the family of the fisherfolks. Nature
  lovers and beach goers flock to the area
  experiencing glass-bottom observation boats. The
  entire experience practically brought in a
  new-economic dimension to the sleepy town of
  Medina.

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• The local community, who initially were
  skeptical about the coral reef rehabilitation
  project are now convinced that there is income in
  environmental restoration and conservation. With
  these experienced environmentalists and other
  other lobby groups would have better chances of
  disseminating environmental restoration and
  protection techniques to other communities e.g.
  the concept of implementing Marine Protected
  Areas (MPAs) which is often unaccepted to
  coastal townspeople of the country.

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• The participation of a few committed and able
  private sector individuals in marine conservation
  and restoration efforts is a largely untapped
  potential in the countrys environmental
  programme. Persons like Mr. Pelaez and others who
  are similarly situated are certainly a force to
  reckon with to successfully implement
  environmental protection programs of the
  Department and Natural Resources.

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• Environmental scientists and academicians
  residing in the Philippine colleges and
  universities must put their expertise to good use
  by engaging in such productive endeavor as
  restoring damaged environment, not only in the
  marine areas but in terrestrial environment as
  well.

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Thank you...