Abstract
Healthy coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystems in the world and have been declining in past decades. Reefs in the Philippines have been damaged from destructive fishing, poor water quality, increased bleaching, and strong storms. Bolinao is a coastal town in the Philippines with a population that relies on reefs for storm protection, their occupations/income, and sustenance from fish protein. Federal and local government agencies have developed country-wide regulations to curb destructive fishing practices through penalties and also established protected areas of different sizes and with specific ecological goals. Corals reefs in Bolinao have still not recovered, and active restoration is recommended to supplement passive management efforts and speed up reef recovery. Coral gardening is a growing restoration method being tested worldwide. Prior to transplantation, corals are reared from small sizes in a protected environment, which can result in a sustainable source of new coral material. The goal of this project was to develop a coral garden, using locally sourced and free materials to build a nursery for two Acropora species in Bolinao, with an emphasis on local community involvement. We determined that attaching small coral fragments onto dead coral rubble using a zip tie was a cost-effective and suitable method and substrate for live coral tissue to grow after a few months. Greater than 90% survivorship was noted for both species after 224 days, indicating a successful nursery technique. Survival and growth rates of each species seemed to be dependent on local environmental conditions and life characteristics of the species. The community coral nursery mirrored the testing nursery, using less expensive materials and it was monitored by local volunteers. There was no significant difference in growth measurements obtained by scientists when compared with community participants during monitoring. Overall, survival was also high in the community nursery with only 1% mortality of fragments after 121 days. As such, Acropora intermedia and Acropora pulchra are productive and resilient species suitable to be reared in underwater nurseries in Bolinao. Furthermore, the monitoring practices can be easily implemented by the community, under the supervision of experts, if proper planning, training, and funding are in place.