To combat coral bleaching, Kenya turns to reef nurseries

Wasini (Kenya), June 27

Minutes away from the Kenyan mainland, the densely forested island of Wasini is one of several starting lines for coral reef restoration efforts in the western Indian Ocean.

On a rare calm day during the normally turbulent monsoon season, four divers, carrying measuring equipment, shoes and toothbrushes descended in turns to the sea-bed reef restoration site on the Shimoni channel.

“We use coral fragments collected from wild populations to establish the nurseries,” said diver Yatin Patel, before slipping into the turquoise waters. “After growing, they’re taken to the coral garden.”

Patel and his team, who are part of the REEFolution foundation, clean the coral nurseries and measure the sizes of the growing corals, which are supported by plastic pipes and pyramid-structured steel nets.

The marine area, jointly managed by the foundation and the island’s community, has been planting over 8,000 corals a year since 2012 and placed about 800 artificial reef structures in the channel in a bid to restore Wasini’s coral gardens.

But the project is threatened by growing costs and a planned fishing port in Shimoni, a mere 3 kilometres away on Kenya’s coast.

The United Nation’s Ocean Conference, which begins on Monday in Lisbon, Portugal, is set to put protection and restoration efforts for coral reefs back on the agenda. Small island states and coastal African nations will be following up on access to “blue financing” mechanisms, including a $625 billion coral reef funding scheme aimed at protection and restoration efforts as well as cushioning communities who rely on oceans for their livelihoods.

The threat of waning fish populations due to dying corals adds to the woes of east African communities, millions of whom are already facing a worsening food crisis because of a prolonged drought in the east and Horn of Africa, as well as ripple effects from the war in Ukraine.

The Wasini Island coral initiative is one among many dotted across the Africa’s western shores, after a series of severe coral bleaching bouts due to warming ocean waters. After a particularly devastating year in 1998, due in large part to the natural weather phenomenon El Nino, huge stretches of the Indian Ocean’s corals — from Somalia to the South Africa — were badly affected.

Coral bleaching occurs when extreme temperatures and sun glare simultaneously trigger corals to flush out algae, causing them to turn white. Corals can survive bleaching events, but are under greater stress and can’t effectively support marine life, threatening the populations that depend on them.