Restore Corals for 400 Fisherfolks in Wasini

Summary of Activities in the 4th Quarter of 2022

1. Coral cleaning and monitoring – 11th September 2022 and 4th November 2022.
2. Monitoring the growth of corals – 16th October 2022 and 2nd December 2022.
3. Patrol of the coral garden – twice a week.

Wasini BMU conducted two coral cleaning and monitoring activitiesin the last quarter of 2022 at the coral garden. A team consisting of three community divers was tasked to monitor and clean the corals and prepare a report.

The coral cleaning exercise is an important activity that ensures the survival and thriving of coral reefs, especially for the young transplanted corals. The monitoring and cleaning exercise takes about 2 hours, due to the number of people doing the work and the size of the coral garden.

During the cleaning exercise the divers observed that there was a signficant improvement in the number and fish species present in the area. This was attributed to the thriving corals that have revived the fishery resource around the coral garden. The divers reported that the growth and survival rate of the corals from the previous monitoring activity estimated to be 96%, with only two of the corals discs out of 42 breaking off.

The team also did patrol the areas around the coral garden to establish whether there were any illegal activities done at the sight that would affect the coral garden. During the 4th quarter, there were no reported illegal activities in and around the coral garded. During the patrols, the team removes any solid or plastic waste found on the surface of water.

Success

The Wasini Coral restoration project has succeeded in establishing a new coral garden within the Shimoni channel with a 96% coral survival rate. Out of the 42 coral discs transplanted 40 discs were in good condition and a very positive growth rate was noted.  

The Wasini community has also reported an increase in abundance of fish and fish types in the area. This had translated to more fish catch and improved number of tourism visiting the beautiful coral ecosystem rich in attractive fish species.

Challenges

Inadequate funds has been a major challenge in maintaining (monitoring) and expanding the coral garden. The Wasini BMU still lacks equipments used for restoration and monitoring and the few available are in broken, worn out and old. Most of the time, equipments used during these activities is hired and this has proven to be expensive.

Links:

• Re-establishing the Wasini Coral Reef