Sustainability

Coral Restoration

Rescued 33,000 coral colonies

Out-planted 31,500 coral colonies

Growing 6,163 coral micro-fragments

Aim to grow 150,000 coral fragments per year

The Maldives is an island nation with an enchanting underwater beauty. Corals play an important role in ocean biodiversity, with 25% of sealife living on the reef.

In collaboration with Coralive.org and the Soneva Fushi SCIE:NCE team, the Soneva Foundation has set up one of the biggest coral nurseries in the world using Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT). Located at the outer edge of the house reef, the coral nursery at Soneva Fushi comprises 432 table structures, arranged in three circular clusters.

The Maldives, an enchanting island nation, boasts captivating underwater beauty. Corals, essential to ocean biodiversity, host 25% of marine life but only make up less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, making it one of the richest ecosystems on the planet.

Soneva Foundation Coral Restoration aims to restore precious coral reef systems, establishing a thriving coral hub in the Maldives.

To execute this vision, the Soneva Foundation is operating from the AquaTerra science centre at Soneva Fushi and oversees the largest coral restoration project in the Indian Ocean, equipped with both in-situ and ex-situ capabilities.

Commencing with a one-hectare coral nursery, one of the world’s largest utilising Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT) at the outer edge of the house reef, our efforts expanded to include the Maldives’ first Coral Spawning and Rearing Lab at AquaTerra. This lab replicates the reef’s natural environment, enabling coral spawning. To complement our in-situ lab, we introduced 30 micro-fragmenting tanks, a technique involving fragmenting coral colonies into tiny pieces, nurturing the fragments into rapid growth and then transplanting them back onto damaged reefs.

Based on these initiatives, we expect to produce up to 150,000 coral fragments each year.

Micro-fragmentation, a groundbreaking method, involves delicately breaking healthy coral colonies into minuscule pieces, which unlocks rapid growth rates in controlled, nurtured conditions. The rapidly growing pieces of coral then fuse together and form much larger pieces than before, increasing the surface area in half the time it takes for naturally growing corals. Once they are at a predetermined size, they are subsequently transplanted back onto damaged reefs.

The Coral Spawning and Rearing Lab replicates on land the environmental conditions necessary for coral spawning, meticulously controlling parameters such as light, temperature, moon cycles and more so we can capture the gametes as they are released and increase the fertilization and recruitment rates of corals twofold. They are then grown in the tanks and subsequently transplanted back onto damaged reefs.

Marine biologist bringing rescued corals to the Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT) nursery.

33,000 coral colonies rescued from various development projects. These have been directly out planted to the reef or fragmented and filled the nursery to grow 50,000 fragment.

Coral fragment growing on Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT) frames. MAT harnesses low-voltage electricity to enhance the health and growth rates of corals and other calcifying marine organisms.

Coral Restoration

Marine biologist bringing rescued corals to the Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT) nursery.

33,000 coral colonies rescued from various development projects. These have been directly out planted to the reef or fragmented and filled the nursery to grow 50,000 fragment.

Coral fragment growing on Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT) frames. MAT harnesses low-voltage electricity to enhance the health and growth rates of corals and other calcifying marine organisms.

The coral nursery needs frequent maintenance to ensure corals are growing well.

Logistics of coral transportation need to be carefully managed to ensure highest possible survival rate.

With 432 table it is one of the world’s largest MAT coral nurseries.

One of the thousands of corals out planted by Soneva Foundation Coral Restoration.