Cyprus | The first floating coral nursery in the Mediterranean

Strapped into wetsuits, three researchers prepare to dive into the crystal-clear waters of Cyprus to plant corals on a floating nursery, a first-of-its-kind initiative in the Mediterranean aimed at restoring the population affected by global warming and overtourism.

Off the coast of Ayia Napa, in the south-east of the island, these Cypriots glue, on numbered sticks, fragments of coral of a local species preserved for several weeks by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research of Cyprus (DFMR).

A few minutes later, they are working about five meters deep on the net of a floating nursery located near Cape Greco.

The D^r Louis Hadjioannou, an associate researcher at the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), responsible for research on “Cladocora caespitosa”, explains that this species of Mediterranean coral has declined in recent years due to climate change and that he wants to “restore” it.

Coral restoration in Cyprus initially consisted of placing the stumps on rocky bottoms, their natural habitat, explains the 41-year-old scientist. “Then an Israeli expert had the idea of ​​trying these floating nurseries, because they keep them away from their predators,” “pathogens” or even “the consequences of unsustainable tourism” while they grow.

Cladocora caespitosa is found in very shallow areas in Cyprus, usually on rocks at zero to four meters, and “tourists can walk on them,” the expert attests. “By making them float […]so we exclude some of the stress factors,” he adds.

” Good results ”

This is “the first pilot study testing floating nurseries in the Mediterranean” to assess their effectiveness, assures Mr. Hadjioannou.

The technique was first used in 2000 in the Red Sea, in the northern Gulf of Eilat, near the Jordanian border, Professor Buki Rinkevich of the National Institute of Oceanography in Haifa, Israel, who developed it, told AFP.

It has been tested across the world, including in Thailand, the Philippines, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Colombia and Jamaica.

The floating nurseries “have produced good results” for about 100 different coral species, Mr. Rinkevich assures.

In total, two structures have been installed in two marine protected areas in Cyprus, at Cape Greco and near the resort of Ayia Napa. Their imposing mooring blocks are located at a depth of 11 and 17 metres respectively.

By the end of June, ten coral fragments had been installed on each floating nursery and will be analyzed every month or two to check their condition.

The goal is to plant at least a hundred in each nursery for this case study, says Louis Hadjioannou.

“In a year we will know if the corals are doing well or not,” and if so, the scientist hopes, “we will collect the fragments and transplant them onto natural reefs.”

“Large bioconstructions”

This experiment is part of the “EFFECTIVE” project, launched last year and funded by the European Union, whose objective is to “restore the Mediterranean natural capital”, explains to AFP Manos Moraitis, 36, biologist and associate researcher at CMMI.

Coral reefs are among the richest ecosystems on the planet. Biotopes of many species, they are guarantors of biodiversity, but very sensitive to environmental changes.

Cypriot marine ecosystems are threatened by climate change as well as mass tourism, coastal development and agricultural pollution.

In 2015, after a heat wave, “30 to 40% of the corals” that Cypriot researchers were studying were “partially dead,” says Dr.^r Hadjioannou.

“With the worsening climate crisis […]an even higher percentage of the coral’s living tissue will die,” he says.

Cladocora caespitosa is a “very important” species in the Mediterranean, he said, because it is “capable of building large bioconstructions, similar to those of tropical reefs.”

If the experiment proves successful, he said, the goal is “to try to replicate these coral nurseries in other regions” of the Mediterranean and “to deploy more of them in Cyprus.”