WONG LIH SIHUAN
Maximising the performance of Reef Enhancement
Units (REUs) to accelerate reef restoration efforts
In order to mitigate current impacts on the reefs of the Southern Islands
through reef rehabilitation, a one-year project on using Reef Enhancement
Units (REUs) to sustain reef biodiversity in the Southern Islands and ultimately
promote coastal tourism was carried out. That project facilitated the development
and utilization of REUs as artificial reefs to enhance reef life of the Southern
Islands. On reefs where the live coral cover has been severely damaged, even
the best management practices can do little to hasten natural recovery processes.
Recent studies suggest that a century or more is needed for a reef to fully
recover once the live coral cover has been removed.
The role of the REUs is to hasten reef recovery and induce restoration of
the natural reef’s biodiversity and ecological vibrancy. The REUs help to
stabilize loose substrate, shelter small reef fish, and provide microenvironments
ideal for coral settlement and growth. Where coral reefs have been severely
damaged, REUs can speed up normally slow reef recovery processes. This environmental
management project is advantageous to coastal tourism, as it is meant to
ensure provision of a marine resource that maintains its attraction to ecotourists.
The REUs were specially fabricated and found to be effective. This project
proposes the continued monitoring of the effectiveness and behaviour of the
REUs over a longer time frame of two years. It will provide the opportunity
to better understand the dynamics of REUs and reef rehabilitation. Such information
will be useful in refining strategies on the deployment of REUs (e.g. time
of deployment, where to deploy) that will maximize their effectiveness, tying
in with the ultimate goal of reef remediation, which is to restore normal
ecosystem function to a coral reef, leaving the least possible evidence of
an artificial intervention.