Exploding with colors, textures and lifeforms, coral reefs provide a
spectacular, living window into an underwater world. Alongside this, they play a
vital role in sustaining our planet: Despite covering less than 1
percent of
the ocean floor, they provide critical ecosystems to more than 25 percent of
marine life, provide millions of jobs globally, protect coastlines from storms
and erosion, and offer a vital food source for local populations.
All of this makes their ongoing degradation and
disappearance
all the more alarming: Climate change, overfishing, various types of pollution,
and rising sea temperatures and
acidification
have killed 14 percent of the world’s
coral
in the last decade; and 90
percent
are projected to disappear by 2050 without drastic action.
With the 2020s designated the “Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration” by the UN, efforts are
underway across the world to rehabilitate the many critical sources of our
planet’s biodiversity — and coral reefs have inspired action on a variety of
fronts. Recent efforts include a public-awareness
campaign
from Adobe and Pantone, companies such as CVS Health eliminating
coral-damaging
chemicals
from sunscreens; and Ørsted’s ReCoral
project
— a world-first attempt to implement a non-invasive approach for collecting
surplus indigenous coral spawn as it washes ashore, for growing healthy coral
colonies on the foundations of nearby offshore wind turbines.
Joining the fray is a Hong-Kong based company called
Archireef — one of a growing group of startup innovators
that are applying biomimetic
approaches
to solving a host of critical sustainability and climate-related issues.
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“I have always been an active diver and have felt very connected with nature.
So, when I started to see patches of coral disappearing in as little as two
months, I started thinking, what can I do?” Archireef CEO and co-founder Vriko
Yu told Sustainable
Brands®. “I’m a science student, so I've always known coral disappears;
but I didn't expect it to happen that fast. Since then, I have been finding ways
to accelerate coral reef recovery.”
Archireef was founded in 2016 by Yu, a marine biologist and entrepreneur; and
David Baker, a marine
ecologist and Associate Professor of Ecology and Biodiversity at the
University of Hong Kong. Together with their team of marine biologists,
computer scientists and designers, they have discovered a groundbreaking way to
accelerate marine ecosystem restoration by creating a hospitable environment for
coral to grow using 3D-printed terracotta tiles — which Yu says are four times
more effective at keeping corals alive than traditional restoration methods.
“We like to put it as an analogy — that we are tiling the sea floor for coral,
building the infrastructure for them,” she explains. “Corals are the best
architects by themselves; so, we put down the initial building blocks and
provide a foundation for them to reclaim the areas where they used to exist.”
Video by Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation
The tiles are designed to mimic the naturally occurring shape of platygyra
(brain coral). The brain design helps to prevent a primary stressor for corals —
sedimentation, which can smother corals, interfering with their ability to feed,
grow and reproduce. The tiles are designed to capture sedimentation in their
crevices and benefit from the movement of underwater currents.
“The microturbulence that is generated from increased wave movement actually
promotes self-cleaning of the reef tiles, removing the dirt that might
accumulate on the top,” Yu explains.
The brain coral design is highly attractive to marine life, which can use its
twisted valleys and crevices to hide from predators. The design can be adjusted
and adapted using the 3D printer to suit a variety of different environments.
Terracotta was chosen because it is environmentally friendly and slightly
acidic, with a similar chemical makeup to real reefs.
“Other materials, like concrete or metal, have very high pH levels — so are
almost corrosive for coral to grow on, or they leach toxic chemicals into the
water,” Yu says. “So, choosing terracotta was quite simple; because it is what
the coral, our tenants, would like.”
To ensure the tiles do not float away, they are designed to be heavy enough so
that they are stable in the water, but light enough so that a single certified
diver can deploy them onto the sea floor. The hexagonal shape also allows them
to connect together — further contributing to their stability, dynamicity, and
scalability. To protect the coral from UV damage and heat waves, Archireef has
found that by assisted migration and deploying the tiles in deeper water, the
coral is less susceptible to the effects, such as bleaching, and grows better.
“Our first experiment with the tiles was in Hong Kong; and since deployment, we
have not seen any bleaching. In fact, there was a regional-scale bleaching event
this summer; but our tiles were fine, because they are in deeper water,” Yu
explains.
Their first research project was launched in 2016 in Hong Kong’s Hoi Ha Wan
Marine Park in
partnership with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
Finalized in 2020, 128 pieces of reef tiles are now placed on the seabed —
covering 40 square meters. Three restoration sites were selected inside the park
— including Coral Beach, Moon Island and a sheltered bay near the WWF
Marine Life Education Center.
After the tiles are deployed, Archireef manages the site for up to five years —
monitoring the reef's growth and biodiversity, measuring and quantifying the
impacts. Its next project is set to start later this year in the UAE, where
they will deploy a 20-square-meter reef in Abu Dhabi. Archireef hopes to
engage with more clients across a variety of industries to promote coral
restoration globally.
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Scarlett Buckley is a London-based freelance sustainability writer with an MSc in Creative Arts & Mental Health.
Published Nov 21, 2022 1pm EST / 10am PST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET