One of the greatest challenges to reef restoration and resilience projects is scale – while many methods may work at a small scale, recovery efforts over much larger sections of reef are needed.
The Boats 4 Corals project is helping scale up slick collection and larval release in the Whitsundays by harnessing the power of local skills, vessels and passion.
Project lead Dr Mark Gibbs (AIMS), with support from Prof. Peter Harrison (Southern Cross University) has developed an approach to safely and effectively bring many hands on deck to deliver more coral larvae to more reef areas. Local tourism operators, Traditional Owners, and government agencies are being trained by Dr Gibbs and the team in the method; from identification of spawning slicks, to releasing coral larvae from floating nursery pools onto the reef.
Boats 4 Corals in 2024
In 2024, Boats 4 Corals will take place during the inshore coral spawning in November. This year, the project will combine the use of larval pools and coral seeding devices to train project participants in two key reef restoration methods.
Ultimately, the project will provide a routine, safe, sustainable, and effective means of undertaking coral reef restoration by the reef community in the Whitsundays region. The end goal of the project is to have local operators willing and able to continue the restoration activities into the future without research organisation oversight. Project officer Dr Deb Foote (AIMS) is mentoring local operators through project handover across the next two spawning seasons to support this goal.
This project is part of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Reef Islands Initiative, the largest reef island habitat rehabilitation project of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The Initiative is supported by funding from Lendlease, the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, the Queensland Government and the Fitzgerald Family Foundation.
The Boats4Corals method is also being used in the Cairns region and Heron Island in 2024.
Featured image: Johnny Gaskell
