Supporting reef conservation by promoting coral garden tourism

Abstract

In 2004, in an effort to protect these endangered Caribbean Acropora species, the Grupo Puntacana Foundation paired up Counterpart International to develop an in-water pilot "Coral Garden” in one of Punta Cana's protected areas. The goal of the Coral Garden is to help reverse degradation using a hands-on approach, preserving existing coral populations by growing them in nurseries. By 2009, the program was brought up to scale when the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science joined the program. Originally material was collected from existing colonies and then propagated in underwater nurseries on ropes and metal frames. Later, as the corals grew, the ropes and frames were pruned and the coral fragments out-planted back onto the reef to promote natural recovery.