1. Global Coral Reef Alliance A non-profit corporation dedicated to growing, protecting and managing the most threatened of all marine ecosystems —Coral Reefs

2. Coral Reefs – Support, Nurture, Protect, Provide

3. Reefs are dying all over the world

4. Today, 65% of the worlds reefs are dying (US Coral Reef Task Force, NOAA)

5. Why are reefs dying? Rising water temperatures Sewage flows
Eutrophication
Disease
Dredging
Dynamite
Cyanide fishing
Bleaching
Physical damage

6. Consider Cancun
Only 12 families lived on this forested island until the 1970s
Then the tourist industry arrived
Today, 2.6 million people visit Cancun each year
The island is bare, its forests long gone
Sewage facilities process only one-quarter of the daily flow
The rest goes straight into the sea

7. Reefs are often covered with algae
Tourism Trashes Ecological Hotspots Ecotourism is touted as a boon to the environment; poor locals working as guides and hoteliers will no longer exploit natural resources for survival. But tourists leave a lot more than footprints, according to a study announced at the fifth World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. In just 10 years, world tourism rates have skyrocketed 200 to 500 percent. Now Conservation International and the United Nations Environment Program report that rubberneckers bring with them long-term ecological devastation. Consider Cancun, Mexico. Only 12 families lived on this forested island until the 1970s. Then the tourist industry arrived. Today, 2.6 million people visit each year, and the island is naked, its forests long gone. Local facilities can process only one-quarter of the sewage; the rest goes straight into the sea. Biodiversity hotspots, home to extraordinary numbers of species, are worst hit. Water siphoned for tourism can upset finely balanced ecosystems. Once natural treasures are destroyed, tourists depart forever, leaving local peoples in worse shape than before the travel boom.

8. Algae comes in green, brown and red Bay Islands, Honduras, 2000

9. It smothers and kills healthy coral

10. Algae growth is often followed by Yellow-band disease

11. Bleaching is usually caused by rising ocean temperatures

12. Tissue is visible in the absence of symbiotic algae

13. Corals worldwide suffer from bleaching Bonaire, 2001

14. BLEACHED CORAL NEW GUINEA

15. Physical damage is everywhere Bay Islands, Honduras, 2003

16. Cyanide fishing kills coral
Healthy
After cyanide exposure

17. Elkhorn and anchors don’t mix Bay Islands, Honduras, 2003

18. When reefs die… Fish populations disappear
Fishermen lose their livelihood
Beaches and shorelines wash away
Land areas erode from waves
Tourists find somewhere else to dive
Local economies can be devastated

19. A solution for corals in peril
Biorock™ Process

20. The Biorock™ Process Corals thrive. Even where water quality is poor

21. Biorock™/ Mineral Accretion
On underwater, conductive structures we assemble a positively charged anode and a negatively charged cathode (structure)
Apply a low voltage electric current between them
Safe for swimmers
Which causes minerals to crystallize from seawater onto structures
Calcium carbonate, white limestone (CaCO3) is formed
Similar to natural coral reefs and tropical white sand
Corals adhere to limestone and grow quickly

22. How a Biorock™ Reef works
When a positively charged anode and a negatively charged cathode are suspended in sea water with an electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the structure (cathode). The result is calcium carbonate. Corals adhere to CaCO3 and grow quickly.
Solar collector or other power supply
Coral Fragments
Anode (+)
Cathode (-) Conductive Structure
(CaCO3)

23. Rebar can be welded in any shape

24. When the materials are fully assembled…

25. We float it into position

26. We attach the electric cables

27. Calcium carbonate quickly forms on the structure

28. We make the frame ready for coral

29. We wire naturally broken pieces of coral to the structure

30. Coral fragments soon cover the frame

31. We monitor coral growth

32. Barnacle Reef, Maldives, 1997

33. Barnacle Reef A year later, 1998

34. Barnacle Reef, 3 years growth

35. Corals are robust and healthy

36. Fish populations move in

37. The new marine ecosystem is both balanced and healthy

38. Biorock™ Reefs attract divers

39. Biorock™ Reefs around the world
Indonesia, Bali and Komodo
Jamaica
Maldives, Ihuru and Vabbinfaru
Mexico, Yucatan
Panama, San Blas Islands
Papua New Guinea
Saya de Malha
Seychelles
Thailand, Phuket
Palau * * * * * * *

40. GCRA Projects have won international awards
The SKAL award for the best Underwater Ecotourism project worldwide.
KONAS Indonesian National Award for best community-based coastal zone management
Theodore Sperry Award, the top prize of the Society for Ecological Restoration
Maldives Environment Award

41. Biorock™ Press
Shock treatment for coral restoration By Clark Boyd Technology correspondent Coral reefs around the world are disappearing. In many places, more than 90% of corals have bleached or died. But an effort is under way to re-grow corals by giving them a bit of electro-shock therapy.
It may be too late to save many
of the corals Marine biologist
Tom Goreau knows coral. He
has been diving among the
reefs since before he could
walk. As the director of the
Global Coral Reef Alliance,
he is passionate about how extraordinary corals are

42. GCRA projects
Build, restore and maintain coral reefs in communities worst affected by loss of reefs
Build reefs for tourism
Breakwaters for shore protection
Mariculture—Oysters
Consultation—Diseases, conservation, rehabilitation

43. Funding
To date…….
Small cash donations from private individuals and businesses
Valuable in-kind donations from the communities with which the GCRA has worked.
No Salaries are drawn from GCRA funding

44. Global Coral Reef Alliance Associates
Jon Allen, GCRA Board of Directors, research engineer and instrumentation designer
Yos Amerta, Bali programs
Max Benjamin, Papua New Guinea programs
Jude Bijoux, Seychelles programs
James Cervino, Coral physiologist, field and laboratory analysis
Dan & Stefanie Clark, Florida programs
Gabriel Despaigne, Panama programs
Gerardo Garcia, Mexico programs
Marina Goreau, Children's program
Tom Goreau, GCRA President
Azeez. A. Hakeem, Maldives programs
Ray Hayes, GCRA Board of Advisors, coral health
Wolf Hilbertz, Reef Restoration
Jeff Houdret, GCRA Board of Advisors, marketing advisor, web issues
Narayana, Bali programs
Dr. Steven Orzack, GCRA Board of Directors, Director of the Fresh Pond Research Institute
Niphon Phongsuwan, Thailand programs
Cody Shwaiko, Komodo programs
Roque Solis, Panama programs
Dr. Robert K. Trench. Retired professor of biology at University of California at Santa Barbara
Ernest Williams, GCRA Board of Directors, Coral diseases