Chen Hong (first on the right) and his assistant tie coral seedlings to a net. Photo/ Supplied.
Chen Hong (first on the right) and his assistant tie coral seedlings to a net. Photo/ Supplied.
This content is produced and published by People's Daily Online; it takes sole responsibility for all the content reproduced on this page. Chinese researchers say they have shown it is possible to re-grow corals, People’s Daily Online
Chinese researchers are "planting" corals to help maintain the marine environment and coastal safety.
In the sea area, west of Fenghuang Island in Sanya city, south China's Hainan province, Chen Hong, director of the Hainan South China Sea Institute of Tropical Ocean, is leading a research team on an offshore test platform to break down collected corals into small pieces and tie them to a seedbed.
Photo shows researchers of the Hainan South China Sea Institute of Tropical Ocean (HITO) repair corals under the sea. Photo/Courtesy of HITO.
These coral seedlings will later be planted in the sea. The team conducts experiments during the day and studies the results at night. Their goal is to build a beautiful coral bed at the bottom of the sea and cultivate millions of corals.
Today in the sea area west of Fenghuang Island, there are patches of coral floating. But 10 years ago, it was a different story: there were only a small number of coral reefs in these waters; living corals were even rarer.
On June 8, 2011, the Fenghuang Island coral reef ecological restoration project officially began. On that day, with the support of the former Sanya marine and fishery bureau, the research team from Hainan South China Sea Institute of Tropical Ocean dropped an artificial coral reef weighing about 250 kg – attached to the stony coral seedlings cultivated that year on the west side of Fenghuang Island.
When some corals were destroyed by typhoons in 2016, the institute used asexual reproduction techniques to re-cultivate 40,000 coral seedlings, forming 1500sq m of an embryonic form of coral reef.
In early 2017, the research team discovered that the survival rate of the corals planted in 2016 was more than 95 per cent, proving initial progress had been made. In 2017, another 101,300 coral seedlings were cultivated in the waters of Fenghuang Island.
Photo shows corals planted inshore by Chen Hong near the Yazhou Bay. Photo / Supplied
Later, during the ecological restoration of coral reefs, according to the chain relationship of the ecosystem, the research team also cultivated symbiotic species closely related to corals, such as shellfish. They improve water quality and macroalgae were also cultivated to reduce water eutrophication and improve species diversity – to improve the coral reef ecosystem.
"The future coral garden will be an integrated ecosystem featuring a trinity of tourism, environmental protection and scientific research," said Chen Hong, adding that the research team hopes the planted undersea corals can add a touch of bright colour to the ocean world.
This article was originally produced and published by People's Daily Online. View the original at en.people.cn
