The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort has announced a new partnership and environmental sustainability project with Reefscapers. This is the most advanced coral propagation program available to efficiently restore degraded reefs and unproductive sandy sea beds and reef flats. The initiative involves long-term monitoring and maintenance from a resident marine biologist and features guest-oriented activities to support the environmental efforts including snorkelling, marine life education classes for adults and children and opportunities to sponsor coral frames for reef regeneration.
Reefscapers is an independent marine environmental consultancy that develops marine biology programs for island-based resorts in the Maldives, having over 15 years of experience in coral propagation, sea turtle rehabilitation, ornamental aquaculture and coastal protection. Their pioneering and ground-breaking coral frame techniques gives them the ability to offer the most advanced propagation programs that rank as some of the most successful in the world. To date, they have transplanted more than 9000 coral frames (covering 4 hectares) using over 40 species of corals, which represents more than half a million corals. The ecological benefits derived from the implementation of these new reefs are patented. Acting as refuge areas for animal post- larvae and source of spawn for the coral species propagated, they contribute to the overall diversity and increase the productivity of a reef flat.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Reefscapers on such an important environmental sustainability initiative that also allows our valued guests to join us and help make a lasting difference,” says Vincent Pauchon, general manager of The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort. “The main project is the installation of the frames with corals around the resort to develop our house reef. A senior member of Reefscapers will be visiting the island twice a year to monitor the process while our resident marine biologist, Hazel Araujo, will stay with us permanently to support long-term maintenance, special educational classes for children, teenagers and adults and guest sponsors for the coral frames.”
To launch the program, The St. Regis Maldives created an initial reef comprised of 25 structures at the onset of implementation. The detailed designs and emplacements were determined after a survey was taken of the resort’s amenities and surrounding reefs. The resort will use coral frames regularly in open sessions to educate guests and ignite sponsor interest for reef regeneration use during their stay on the island. The resident marine biologist will be in charge of building the frames and sharing key details around the program and benefits during such activities.
“Each transplanted and deployed coral frame will enter into a specific monitoring plan developed by our team,” says Sebastien Stradal, marine consultant at Reefscapers. “During the entire phase, each frame has a number tag and is mapped on a satellite QGIS interactive map. The frames are entered into a database linked to a website to provide us with details including the date of transplantation, GPS coordinates, depth, coral species, health, sponsors and more.”
The frames are bi-annually monitored, with pictures taken and uploaded to a webpage custom-designed exclusively for the property. All the scientific data is recorded online and visible by the sponsors at any time. Sponsors also have the option to display their dedication on the website and engrave it on a plastic tag provided by Reefscapers which will be attached to the frame. The resident marine biologist will send regular updates and photographs to sponsors every six months at the minimum and upload them to a dedicated Reefscapers subsite.
Beginning in March, guests will have the option to sponsor coral frames.
For more information on the Reefscapers partnership and programme, please visit: https://reefscapers.com/stregis-maldives/
