Due to Covid-19, Project Week has been cancelled. However, I still learned from the planning process, specifically about the issue we were going to address.
Our Project Week was a service-activity one. We were going to work with the organization Gili Eco Trust. We would initially focus on doing diving training and doing beach clean-ups. We were hoping that we would be able to work with them on their Biorock project.
This project uses Biorock technology to create artificial reefs to combat the bleaching of coral reefs, especially near Gili Island. I knew before the coral reefs were dying and that they were important, but I didn’t know why. While planning for Project Week, I learned the answer to my questions. Coral reefs are bleaching due to a variety reasons: coastal development, overfishing, inland pollution, climate change, and ocean acidification (which is caused by an excess of carbon dioxide emissions being absorbed by the world’s oceans). Coral reefs provide a home to thousands of species. Not only that, coral reefs also protect shores from the impact of waves and storms, can provide medicine and food to people, and provide economical benefits to coastal communities through tourism. If coral reefs are wiped out completely, the balance in the environment will be broken and it would severely impact communities living near coasts. Therefore, despite the Biorock project being focused on Gili Island’s environment, it has significant global value.
While we could not do it, we planned to work on the Biorock project in order to address this issue. The Biorock technology provide a sturdy surface for corals that are alive but aren’t rooted to substrate onto structures. This is done by a low voltage current that ultimately forms calcium carbonate around metal for the coral to attach to; the current also encourages the corals to grow faster and stronger. The coral reefs created from the Biorock project has proved to be more resilient than natural reefs, and thus a sustainable solution for coral reef bleaching.
Compared to when i started, my stance on coral reefs now has changed. Before, I felt that there was nothing that could be done to mitigate the damage on coral reefs other than addressing pollution and climate change. However, now, I realise that firstly, there are other areas we must address such as overfishing and secondly, that there are actions that can be taken to help coral reefs now.
