Coral Nurture Program Whitsundays

Coral Nurture Program Whitsundays

Part of the Whitsunday Reef Islands Initiative program

Project Lead: University of Technology Sydney

Key project partners: Tourism operators including Wavelength Cruises, Kiana Sail and Dive, Ocean Rafting and Red Cat Adventures.

Overview: Coral propagation and planting practices are rapidly becoming established worldwide by local communities in efforts to restore reefs. Recent advances in the scale and cost-effectiveness of these practices have been achieved through an innovative tourism-science partnership – the Coral Nurture Program – where tourism businesses in Cairns-Port Douglas have established coral propagation and planting as part of wider site stewardship activities.

The goal of the Whitsundays Coral Nurture Program is to evaluate how this partnership model can be adopted by tourism operations for Whitsundays reef environments. The program identified low-cost coral restoration methods while also supporting tourism operator-led stewardship to improve reef health in the Whitsundays. Three sites were selected for coral restoration: Luncheon Bay, Blue Pearl Bay and western Black Island.

Key Achievements

• 33 crew trained from 3 tourism operators in coral identification, planting and monitoring.
• Over 13,700 corals fragments planted at priotiy reef sites.
• Up to 2005 increase in coral cover recorded within research plots.
• Survival rates improved up to 80% as techniques and local expertise developed.