Help Expand Reefs of Hope South Pacific Initiative

Talofa from Samoa!  

Greetings to all who care about this South Pacific work from afar!

I am here for an intense week with the new NGO Samoa Reefs of Hope!  The local team arranged seven meetings in Apia with govt., NGOs, UN offices, etc, which included meeting the Prime Minister herself!  I also gave two 1-2 hour presentations in the evenings to a total of about 60 people, including key chiefs and leaders of the community. I am staying at Return to Paradise Resort, with accommodation donated in support of the our work.  I am honored to be a guest at this beach resort owned by the extended indigenous family who have been caretakers of the waters for over a thousand years. 

Preliminary estimates from Tavita put the losses at 60-70% of corals on many reefs in this most recent mass bleaching.  We set out in two kayaks with Tavita and his two sons, ages 17 and 19, and I got a really good view of the reefs and existing nurseries do a more complete assessment.

The cooler water areas of the reef are indeed very badly degraded with less than 1% of corals of all species surviving, and what was recovering from the horrific COTS invasion a few years back mostly died in the bleaching. And while the lagoon was devastated, I was thrilled to find that the shallow hot areas only had a 20-50% die off!  So there are LOTS of corals to work with, and so this is a big relief!   Another pleasant surprise was that the nasty crown of thorns starfish, which can kill so many of the heat adapted "super corals" killing out what survives a severe marine heat wave, are no longer abundant, as we only found four during the entire week.  

The very large coral nursery that Tavita and volunteers had created last year had been badly damaged by waves right at the peak of bleaching and the temperature logger was lost, but fortunately Tavita uploaded the logger data before the waves hit, and so we know that the nursery got to 34C (>93F) for several days running. The corals he sourced from the cooler reefs nearby bleached and mostly died, but the corals he got from the hot pocket reefs survived, except for the ones thrown onto the sand by the waves.  The A-frames and ropes all did well, but the tables all toppled.  The next day, I focused on training the team how to locate the "sweet spots" for ideal location, hidden behind large coral bommies and old lava flows which prevent the currents and waves from destroying the structures.  One area of the existing nursery had been sheltered in such a spot and was the only section that was not damaged, providing a clear example.  We found two areas with excellent protection behind pahoehoe lava flows, with distinctive and beautiful ripple patterns, similar to cow pies- LOL! 

With the support and keen interest of the chiefs of the Lefaga Bay area, we have formulated a climate change adaptation and coral restoration action plan using Reefs of Hope strategies, to help the coral reefs of the wider bay adapt to warming ocean temperatures while recovering coral cover.  A special focus will be on reinforcing the six established no-fishing reserves and giant clam sanctuaries of the bay with heat adapted corals planted onto habitat enhancing A-frame structures.  The newly relocated nurseries will also be replanted with bleaching resistant corals, to increase the biomass of the corals for planned coral work into the future.  The plans are going to take a consistent effort, but with Samoa Reefs of Hope, a supportive Lefaga community and chiefs, and Return to Paradise's support, as well as with increased funding from a small grant for materials and staffing from UNEP things are looking very hopeful.  This is of course only possible due to the foundation laid by Tavita, the well-trained project leader who came to our workshops in Fiji three times over the years, and who has worked without pay since 2019 on the coral project. Now with a bit if funding and the support of the Samoa Reefs of Hope board, we expect amazing progress.  The dedication and support we experienced from our Samoan friends is truly encouraging! 

Thanks again for helping make this happen!

Links:

• The new strategies are in the links on the UNESCO website!