An underwater brigade of ecologists, biologists and tourism operators donned their neoprene “uniforms” and united off the coast of Cairns to check the results of a four-year Coral Nurture Program that aims to protect high-value Great Barrier Reef sites against future extreme weather events.
Funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, the programme is a joint partnership between University of Technology Sydney (UTS) scientists and the Port Douglas-based Wavelength Reef Cruises.
Lead UTS researcher and coral scientist, David Suggett, said the Coral Nurture Program was “an unprecedented success”.
Two years of “great growing conditions” have enabled recovering reef sites.
He added: “The collective action of operators planting tens of thousands of corals means we can now start to understand how, when and why coral replanting is successful. That is now feeding forward to new stewardship-based management for the Great Barrier Reef.”
Under the management of scientists, staff from reef tourism boats maximise their reef visits and tend to coral nurseries while tourists enjoy the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef nearby. They utilise a specially designed Coralclip device to attach corals to the reef without the need for chemical bonding agents. The Coralclip method is faster and cheaper than traditional out-planting methods and has contributed to high survival rates.
The Program has delivered coral restoration at a scale never seen before on the Great Barrier Reef, with more than 70,000 coral fragments planted across 27 sites and an average 85 per cent survival rate. Almost 50,000 of these fragments were planted by the crew from Wavelength Reef Cruises.
The Malaysian government has revised its standard operating procedures for the Langkawi International Travel Bubble (LITB) recently, increasing air connectivity by allowing tourists to enter via domestic flights from klia2, in addition to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The mandatory insurance coverage for tourists has also been reduced from US$80,000 to US$50,000 for the duration of their stay in Malaysia.
Children aged 12 and below are now allowed to enter the island with their fully vaccinated parents or guardians without having to show proof of vaccination.
LITB travellers are now allowed to travel to other destinations in the country after staying four days in Langkawi, compared with the previous requirement of an eight-day stay on the island.
According to the New Straits Times, Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) CEO, Nasaruddin Abdul Muttalib, said the revised procedures would enable LITB arrivals to increase.
The LITB, which started as a three-month pilot project on November 15, 2021, has been extended indefinitely until the country’s borders reopen.
Last week, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin shared that a realistic target for the reopening of the country’s borders was in early 2Q2022, and that the Ministry of Health was preparing guidelines for the country’s reopening.
The guidelines would have to be presented to the Covid-19 Pandemic Management Committee, chaired by the prime minister, as well as the Covid-19 quartet ministers before being brought to the Cabinet.
An announcement on when the country will reopen its borders will eventually be made by the prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob.