#ocean conservatio

[hope-for-the-planet]

This Coral Restoration Technique Is 'Electrifying' a Balinese Village

The technique is also changing attitudes and inspiring locals to preserve their natural treasures

There are two parts of this story: The first is that a coral restoration technique called Biorock (which involves running extremely low voltage electricity through metal structures that coral are attached to) is helping to grow new reefs 2-5 times faster than normal.

But the second part of the story is even more important. This new coral technique has allowed people in the small fishing village of Pemuteran to become involved in the conservation of the ecosystem that they rely on for food.

After years of dynamite fishing and cyanide poisoning, the reefs in their region had been damaged and fish stocks plummeted as a result. Once the fishermen understood the relationship between healthy reefs and healthy fish stocks, they became invested in restoring their reefs and even began reporting fishermen from other villages who were continuing to use damaging practices.

One of the workers on the coral restoration project, who was originally doubtful that it would work, said:

“We started taking care of it like a garden. And we started to love it.”

Another reminder that taking care of nature often also means taking care of people.

Thanks to @cognitiveinequality for the submission!

[missmarinebio]

Pacific Islands could lose 80 per cent of their fish because of climate change

Pacific Island nations could lose as much as 80 per cent of their fish by the end of the century, as climate change causes species to go extinct, a new study warned.

The region is "projected to become warmer, less oxygenated, more acidic, and have lower production of plankton that form the base of oceanic food webs,"  

After visiting Fiji and witnessing first hand how climate change and rising sea levels are affecting how locals live, it is said to see that these people who live sustainably off the land will suffer the most. When the men in the village leave at 5 in the morning to go fishing and catch maybe one or two big fish to sell or feed their families, its not fair that their environment is the one becoming the most affected by ocean changes while other parts of the world continue to exploit ocean resources.