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Check out this article By Carla Gomez
Last updated 08:23pm (Manila time) 02/01/2007
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=46958
(article from above link is reproduced below)
BACOLOD CITY -- A team of young Filipinos is using a method that earned them top honors at a competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to hasten coral growth by five times and ensure survival by more than 20 times in a marine reserve in Sagay City, 82.9 kilometers north of here.
The First Step Coral project is funded with a grant from MIT after winning the grand prize at the noted school’s 5th Ideas Competition in May 2006 and was launched and pioneered at the Sagay Marine Reserve in July 2006, said team leader Gerardo Jose La O', a native of Negros Occidental and a graduate student in material science at MIT.
The other members of the team are Ilac Diaz, Martin Lorilla and Emzo delos Santos, with Dr. Thomas Goreau, who invented BioRock, the method used to hasten coral growth, as their consultant.
The First Step Coral project aims to rehabilitate coral reef resources and help increase reef fish populations that would impact positively on the livelihood of fishing communities dependent on this vital resource, La O' said.
The BioRock method utilizes low voltage DC currents to electronically deposit calcium on metallic meshes placed close to the coral colonies, La O’ said.
"These calcium-rich substances then promote [coral] growth rates up to five times and increase survivability by over 20 times during coral bleaching events," he said.
Coral bleaching is the whitening of coral colonies, attributed mainly to increased sea temperatures.
The other environmental changes that may cause coral bleaching include disease, sedimentation, cyanide fishing, pollution and salinity changes, according to the website of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS).
La O' said they had three working models at the Sagay Marine Reserve powered by renewable energy such as solar panels, wind turbines and tidal turbines.
Working models have been set up on Carbin Reef and Molocaboc Island, part of the marine reserve which covers 32,000 hectares of marine protected areas.
The Philippines has some of the most productive and most diverse coral reefs in the world but 95 percent of them are in poor condition due to a long history of erosion of deforested islands and heavy fishing using destructive methods, La O’ said.
La O’ said they hope their pioneering project in Sagay City will be replicated in other parts of the country.
Last updated 08:23pm (Manila time) 02/01/2007
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=46958
(article from above link is reproduced below)
BACOLOD CITY -- A team of young Filipinos is using a method that earned them top honors at a competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to hasten coral growth by five times and ensure survival by more than 20 times in a marine reserve in Sagay City, 82.9 kilometers north of here.
The First Step Coral project is funded with a grant from MIT after winning the grand prize at the noted school’s 5th Ideas Competition in May 2006 and was launched and pioneered at the Sagay Marine Reserve in July 2006, said team leader Gerardo Jose La O', a native of Negros Occidental and a graduate student in material science at MIT.
The other members of the team are Ilac Diaz, Martin Lorilla and Emzo delos Santos, with Dr. Thomas Goreau, who invented BioRock, the method used to hasten coral growth, as their consultant.
The First Step Coral project aims to rehabilitate coral reef resources and help increase reef fish populations that would impact positively on the livelihood of fishing communities dependent on this vital resource, La O' said.
The BioRock method utilizes low voltage DC currents to electronically deposit calcium on metallic meshes placed close to the coral colonies, La O’ said.
"These calcium-rich substances then promote [coral] growth rates up to five times and increase survivability by over 20 times during coral bleaching events," he said.
Coral bleaching is the whitening of coral colonies, attributed mainly to increased sea temperatures.
The other environmental changes that may cause coral bleaching include disease, sedimentation, cyanide fishing, pollution and salinity changes, according to the website of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS).
La O' said they had three working models at the Sagay Marine Reserve powered by renewable energy such as solar panels, wind turbines and tidal turbines.
Working models have been set up on Carbin Reef and Molocaboc Island, part of the marine reserve which covers 32,000 hectares of marine protected areas.
The Philippines has some of the most productive and most diverse coral reefs in the world but 95 percent of them are in poor condition due to a long history of erosion of deforested islands and heavy fishing using destructive methods, La O’ said.
La O’ said they hope their pioneering project in Sagay City will be replicated in other parts of the country.
