380 Coral Colonies in Nurseries in Jeddah.. To Restore the Red Sea Reefs

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The General Authority for the Conservation of Coral Reefs and Turtles in the Red Sea has implemented a project to create coral nurseries in the city of Jeddah, which currently includes 380 coral colonies, about 78.4% of which are in excellent health.

The authority is implementing the coral nursery project in Jeddah, in collaboration with the 17sixty Diving Center, and with the support of @SWSDFKSA; to enhance the restoration of coral reefs and increase their readiness for reintroduction to their natural habitats. https://t.co/X2sAJFfjw7

The first phase of the project began at "La Mer" beach, in collaboration with the "17sixty" Diving Center, and with the support of the Saudi Federation for Marine Sports and Diving, to form the nurseries as a comprehensive platform for the propagation, care, and restoration of coral reefs, by combining scientific methods and community participation.

The project relies on rescuing damaged coral colonies, caring for them, and growing them within the nurseries before replanting them in their natural habitats, which contributes to increasing the available coral stock for restoration operations.

The program started in mid-2024, and the nursery currently includes 380 coral colonies distributed at different depths, belonging to 13 genera. The genus Pocillopora leads the colonies present in the nursery, with 245 colonies representing 64.5% of the total colonies, followed by the genus Acropora with 62 colonies, then Porites with 35 colonies, along with other genera.

The work cycle begins with rescuing threatened coral fragments or those collected from nearby affected areas, then securing them on nursery tables, suspended structures, and rope units to provide a suitable environment for their growth away from sediments and pollutants.

Additionally, the coral colonies undergo weekly examinations to monitor survival rates and health status, track diseases and predators, while growth rates are measured every three months, along with monthly visits for monitoring and training.

Care activities include cleaning algae, reattaching coral fragments, and combating predators, including the crown-of-thorns starfish and Drupella snails.

In parallel, the project assigns each colony a unique identity that allows tracking of the mother colony, documenting its growth record, and determining the final location for replanting. The project also includes larval propagation using 3D technology to provide safe surfaces that help wild coral larvae settle and grow.

The project results showed that 298 colonies, representing 78.4% of the total colonies, are in excellent health and have fully living tissues, while the number of colonies exceeding 10 centimeters in size reached 231 colonies.

At the same time, the project contributes to the development of rescued coral colonies and increases the available stock for restoration operations, in addition to enhancing the capacity and productivity of nurseries, developing standard procedures for coral care and the structures used, and collecting data and tracking colonies.

In this context, the project extends to capacity building and enhancing community participation, by training local divers to care for and monitor nurseries, and involving the diving community in field restoration work, which enhances its participation in efforts to preserve coral reefs and marine ecosystems in the Red Sea.

The next phase, which extends over 12 months and is divided into seven stages, includes expanding the nursery and enhancing care and monitoring activities, replanting healthy coral colonies in their natural habitats, as well as completing the necessary environmental assessments, in support of coral reef restoration and the sustainability of marine ecosystems in the Red Sea.