SAVING CORAL REEFS: LIFE+LEISURE

Tourism is a vital part of the effort to save coral reefs, writes Nina Karnikowski.

The Zanzibar Archipelago has long attracted travellers with its glittering coastline and breathtaking coral reefs. But those reefs, like reefs the world over, are facing an uncertain future because of rising water temperatures, coral bleaching, damaging fishing practices, plastic pollution and other destructive forces.

Maintaining the health of coral reefs is vital to the larger ecosystem, given they host more than a quarter of all marine life. Reefs also underpin the world’s ‘blue economy’ – the contribution of oceans to global gross domestic product through tourism, food, employment and the other resources they provide.

More than 3 billion people are dependent on oceans for their livelihoods, according to the United Nations. Thus, the healthier coral reefs are, the more the blue economy has to offer.

Oceans Without Borders is one of the increasing number of organisations created by pooling resources in the not-for-profit and commercial spheres in order to protect marine health. This partnership between the Africa Foundation (an NGO focused on community development) and high-end eco-tourism company andBeyond last year added a coral reef restoration project on Mnemba Island, off north-eastern Zanzibar, to its portfolio.

Headed up by Oceans Without Borders program manager and principal scientist Dr Tessa Hempson, the program aims to reforest the degraded reefs around Mnemba by using the reef as a living laboratory.

Broken pieces of parent coral are collected from the reef and divided into new coral fragments, which are then glued onto small cement discs that are added to a series of 15 coral tables. These tables form a ‘coral nursery’, which guests to the island can visit, and which include a mix of different species and genotypes to bolster the reef’s biodiversity.

After three to six months, the cultivated coral colonies are transplanted back onto degraded sections of the reef, where they continue to be monitored.

The program is not only a lifeline for the threatened reef, but also provides jobs for the local marine rangers who have been trained how to dive and how to maintain and nurture the coral garden.

“In East Africa, and in much of the world, if you don’t work with the people who are the custodians and users of those ecosystems, then all the rest of that effort is in vain,” says Dr Hempson, who is also an adjunct researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at Queensland’s James Cook University.

“So we work closely with the communities to make sure what we put in place is sustainable in terms of their needs and their capacity, and to build that capacity so local communities can be effective custodians for many generations.”

The intention is the rangers will act as well-informed messengers, talking to their communities about marine conservation.

Another knock-on benefit of the reef restoration project is the global awareness created by Mnemba Island guests.

After spending time on the reef and learning about the project, they then (hopefully) become ambassadors for marine conservation back home, and part of the reef’s ongoing support system.

“By putting people into these environments where they’re inspired and motivated to make a change, and offering education and explanations for how they can play a positive role in conserving these ecosystems, you can influence the way they then go about their lives.”

The Mnemba Island reef restoration project is one of many projects andBeyond has actioned over the three decades it has been operating to help conserve the wild spaces that surround their lodges, and to support the communities that are the ultimate custodians of those places.

The ecotourism outfit, which owns and operates 29 lodges and camps across Africa, Asia and South America, has had a positive impact on more than 3.6 million hectares of conservation land and 3000 kilometres of coastline, by collaborating with the likes of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Lionscape Coalition, as well as the Africa Foundation.

One of andBeyond’s most effective conservation efforts has been working with Rhinos Without Borders to move endangered rhinos from areas where they can easily be poached to places where they can be actively monitored, resulting in the birth of 30 rhinos.

This story first appeared in print and online here