Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) has entered an exciting five-year partnership with SECORE International to bring a new and innovative reef restoration technique, known as larval propagation, to Bonaire for the first time.
SECORE International a leader in reef renewal via corals propagation.
For the past decade, SECORE International has been a leader in the study of the sexual reproduction of corals and has conducted pioneering research to develop novel methods for reef renewal. By taking advantage of corals’ natural sexual reproduction, larval propagation has the ability to produce millions of genetically unique coral offspring. During mass spawning events, coral gametes are collected using collection nets and taken back to the lab to be fertilized in vitro. The resulting fertilized embryos are placed directly in the ocean. They are placed in floating pools to complete their development and settlement phase on specially designed substrates. These are later outplanted onto the reef.
“We are excited to be incorporating larval propagation into the current RRFB restoration program, as it will complement the restoration work we already do. This technique will allow us to work on a wider array of coral species, while providing massive potential for us to scale-up our efforts in order to protect and restore Bonaire’s coral reefs.” – Francesca Virdis, Project Coordinator at Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire
Over the last two years, staff from Reef Renewal Bonaire have attended two training workshops hosted by SECORE in Curaçao to gain knowledge and practice the larval propagation technique in a hands-on setting with SECORE scientists. This participation strengthened the relationship between the two restoration organizations and paved the way for this five-year partnership.
Fall spawning events were perfect for Reef Renewal Foundation to begin work with the new methodology.
During the September and October spawning events, divers observed the spawning of dozens of boulder brain coral colonies (Colpophyllia natans) and were able to deploy collection nets to collect the released egg and sperm bundles. After collection, RRFB staff successfully completed fertilization in vitro and, in the end, produced an estimated 2.3 million Colpophyllia embryos, which were released back over the reef.
Future plans for 2020 for Bonaire’s Reef Renewal Foundation.
In 2020, RRFB will initiate the second phase of the larval propagation project and utilize floating pools to facilitate larval settlement on outplanting substrates. The goal is to outplant the genetically unique coral offspring onto the reef. By participating in this work and conducting these field trials, RRFB will work with SECORE to improve larval propagation techniques and continue to work on restoring Bonaire’s reefs.
About Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire.
Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire protects and restores coral reefs in Bonaire by:
Through large-scale propagation, outplanting, and monitoring of genetically diverse corals, RRFB works to assist the natural recovery of coral reefs.
(Source: Reef Renewal Foundation, formerly Coral Restoration Foundation)
