By Caspar Henderson.
At the beginning of March 2002, a marine scientist, an architect-engineer and a few assistants are sailing to Saya de Malha, a remote underwater ridge in the Indian Ocean. They aim to build a coral ark using the power of the sun, the sea and minerals in the seawater.
The work of Thomas Goreau and Wolfgang Hilbertz has divided the scientific community. The value of their work to poor communities has been praised and questioned. But the technique they will use at Saya, known as "biorock" or mineral accretion technology (MAT), could have far reaching implications for protecting the world's coral reefs, which are increasingly threatened by climate change and other stresses.
I am joining the small team working with Goreau and Hilbertz. I am writing an internet journal from Saya, which will sent to subscribers via email and archived on this web site. Please subscribe to the journal by clicking subscribe and support on the menu.
With around forty years in the water, Thomas Goreau is one of the world's foremost authorities on corals. He has an easy rapport with subsistence fishermen, but a stormier relationship with some scientific colleagues. Goreau's passion for the sea is nurtured by a long family tradition in his native Jamaica. Tom's grandfather was a member of the first expedition to study and map Australia's Great Barrier Reef in detail. Wolfgang Hilbertz is an architect and engineer known for radical work in 'ecological' architecture in the US and elsewhere. In recent years, Wolf, who is German by origin, has turned his attention to the sea, collaborating with Tom on MAT.
In 1998 Tom and Wolf won the top award of the Society for Ecological Restoration - the 'Oscars' of the field. They are currently leading coral restoration projects in Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Mexico and Panama. Additional schemes are planned for Israel, India and the Philippines.
Global warming threatens to destroy many of the world's reefs, eroding the ecosystems and in some cases the very land on which millions of people depend. Scientists are monitoring the decline, but few have any idea of what to do about it. Using biorock, Tom and Wolf have already shown they can help corals thrive in increasingly unfavourable conditions, to the benefit of local communities. See Context for Saya 2002 for more details.
Saya 2002 is intended to be the first phase of a multi-year experiment: this remote area is thought to be less subject to disruption and stress such as bleaching events that are forecast to be increasingly frequent in many parts of the world.
Please subscribe to the journal by clicking subscribe and support on the menu.
Central to endeavours is Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT). Simply put, MAT makes rock out of seawater. When a small electric current (powered by a renewable energy source) passes through iron bars immersed in seawater, calcium carbonate dissolved in the water accumulates on the metal. Gradually it builds up a structure known as biorock. MAT imitates the natural process in which corals form atolls, but does it much faster. When done correctly, say Tom and Wolf, a sturdy structure emerges, a haven and nursery for life.
Building on twenty years research and experimentation, Saya 2002 is intended to be the first phase of a multi-year experiment. This remote area is thought to be less likely to be subject to disruption and stress such as bleaching events that are forecast to become increasingly frequent in most parts of the world. Depending on how matters progress, Tom and Wolf may even attempt in future to build an island entirely out of Biorock, way out in international waters. "We could lay the foundations for a free republic of the seas, a new Atlantis" adds Wolf, smiling broadly and only half joking.
With a small crew and a tiny budget, Tom and Wolf will sail on the MV Orphee far from land for their boldest experiment yet. The mismatch between their limited resources and the enormity of their task is either heroic or absurd - or both.
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Saya 2002 is funded by the Lighthouse Foundation.
© GrainOfSand Ltd 2002 | To see the world in a grain of sand, And heaven in a wild flower,
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