Download CORAL CONSERVATION THRIVES AT BAROS MALDIVES The

CORAL CONSERVATION THRIVES AT BAROS MALDIVES
The news of damaged reefs and bleached corals throughout the world has not gone unnoticed
at Baros Maldives, where the resort’s vibrant house reef is a major attraction for snorkelers and
Baros Maldives is pro-active in reef conservation.
At the resort’s Marine and Diving Centres, staff have actively worked in coral conservation for a
long time and in 2012 started sponsored Coral Gardening. This enables guests to sponsor their
own coral tray, have their names engraved on it and receive frequent updates about the
growth of their adopted corals. This programme is a huge success with almost 200 coral tables
so far. Some of them are located around the centre of the Water Villa area, while most of
them surround the Lighthouse Restaurant.
The coral polyp, which is responsible for the formation of reefs, is an extremely fragile animal
that easily gets damaged on contact with fins or dive equipment. Following the principle of
“prevention is better than cure” guests who visit the Marine Centre are advised how, when and
where to go snorkelling to avoid any contact with corals or other marine organisms.
Unfortunately some coral fragments break off due to snorkellers or get bitten off by fish as they
search for food within the branches of reefs. These fragments eventually end up on the sandy
sea floor where they have only a small chance of survival.
This is where the resort’s Reef Rehabilitation Programme begins. Guests can contribute to the
reef enhancement project by sponsoring a Coral Frame. During this activity, guests learn about
the coral propagation process and are escorted in a swim out to the house reef. There they
collect broken coral fragments and re-attach them to especially designed structures. These
provide a stable substrate (the coral frame) elevated from the sandy seafloor.
This not only gives artificial reef-structure corals a chance to grow, but also creates new homes
for various marine animals. The Baros Maldives Marine Nursery is inhabited by juvenile Batfish,
Octopuses, various species of Damselfish and Sweepers. Blennies and Snails Goatfish and
Surgeonfish regularly visit the coral frames and some juvenile Oriental Sweetlips spend the early
months of their lives sheltering under them.
The Baros Maldives marine biologists keep participants up-to-date by e-mail every six months
about the growth of the corals as they develop on the table. Growth rates of corals are highly
variable, depending on a variety of factors like species, location on the reef and age of the
colony.
The Baros Maldives Marine Team devotes a lot of time to the coral nursery to reduce the
predation pressure on corals in the house reef and surrounding reefs. Regular hunting and
removal of coral eaters like Crown of Thorns (starfish) and Drupella (snail) is conducted.
The resort also organises regular cleaning of the house reef to keep it trash-free. In addition, the
resort’s Marine Centre cooperates with national projects, such as collecting data for the Olive
Ridley Project (which involves locating abandoned ‘ghost’ nets in which they could become
trapped), the Manta Trust (Manta Rays Conservation) and the Maldives Turtle ID programme.
Baros Maldives, with 30 overwater villas, ten with secluded sundeck swimming pools, and 44
beachside villas, ten of which have individual plunge pools, and one romantic Baros Residence,
is ideal for divers, whether novices or experts, because of the variety of living coral, fish and
turtles to be observed on its pristine house reef within a few metres of the beach.
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For more information, please contact:
BAROS MALDIVES
Lisa Jakobsson
PR & Communications Manager
PO Box 2015, Male 20-02, Republic of Maldives
T: +960 664 26 72
www.baros.com