Mabul Marine Day Coral Replanting
In 1998, Prof Dr Masayoshi Hayashi, Director of Yokosuka City Museum of Nature and Humanities, Japan, founded the Mabul Marine Day program. The program goal was to raise awareness on the causes of reef destruction and to encourage action to help reduce coral destruction.
Every year, on July 20, tourist divers coming to Mabul island for leisure resort diving would participate in transplanting corals from a healthy area to destroyed reefs.
According to WWF Malaysia, as much as 10% of the world’s reefs have been degraded beyond recovery while another 30% are predicted to collapse within the next 10 to 20 years. The reefs at greatest risk include those in Southeast Asia.
There has been encouraging news as a result of this program. According to Dr Hayashi, a close observation has shown a multitude of micro-organisms thriving on the polyps of the corals and their branches.
Source: Daily Express