We have exciting news!
Coral Mission will lead a rescue and relocation project to save a coral reef from being destroyed in the Maldives.
At Maamigili island airport, there are plans to extend the runway by reclaiming land. Unfortunately, this work will flood the nearby reef with sand which will suffocate the beautiful corals living just 2-8m underwater.
We approached the landowners and requested permission to collect the corals and relocate them elsewhere – and they agreed!
Land reclamation is a highly controversial practice but has become common in countries like Maldives, the Kingdom of Islands, which has a growing tourism industry but limited land mass.
Luckily we have Karl Fellenius on our team- a marine biologist with over 20 years of experience in coral reef relocation. With his guidance, we have begun to map the Maamigili reef and evaluate the number and types of corals that could be relocated. The corals will then be collected and moved to the nearby island of Dhigurah where we will build rack frames for them to live and grow safely.
There are hundreds of animals living on the reef that will also be affected by the construction work including a variety of snails, crabs and lobsters. We plan to also collect these species and relocate them alongside their coral homes.
We have the passion and expertise to pull off this ambitious project off but we need your help to do it.
Contact us to donate to our new coral relocation mission!
