Project title: Ex situ coral spawning to pioneer sustainable coral restoration and trade

Project lead: Dr. Rita Rachmawati

Co-applicants: Dr. Ofri Johan, Prof. Michael Sweet

Countries involved: Indonesia and United Kingdom

Takes place: Indonesia

Supporting institutions: National Research and Innovation Agency, University of Derby

Total budget: USD $895,774.00

Duration: 36 months

Project overview

To protect corals from the damage caused by over-collection, the Indonesian Government has limited the harvesting of ornamental corals from the wild and encouraged more sustainable coral aquaculture practices. Unfortunately, not all corals have been successfully cultured, so some remain wild ‘caught’. By producing more coral species through aquaculture, it is possible to reduce the collection of corals from reefs, contributing to their conservation in the wild. Additionally, these same cultured corals could be grown out for reef restoration purposes.

This project focuses on advancing ex situ sexual reproduction practices for large stony corals, which are highly valued in the aquarium trade but face critical threats from climate change and harvesting. The team of researchers seeks to propagate ornamental coral species using innovative techniques and developing novel settlement substrates to improve the survival and growth of juvenile corals. The substrates will be made from locally sourced, sustainable materials, ensuring cost-effectiveness and wide adoption by coral farmers and conservationists.

Specific objectives

1. Propagate ornamental large stony corals, such as Cynarina lacrymalis and Acanthophyllia deshayesiana, using sexual reproduction practices.
2. Develop a novel settlement substrate to improve recruitment and survivorship of corals, using local and affordable materials.

How the objectives will be met

• Establish ex situ sexual reproduction protocols: develop new methods for coral nurseries that coral farmers and practitioners can easily duplicate. To do this, the team will study how to trigger the ex situ spawning of corals, by testing chemical, temperature, and salinity treatments.
• Enhance settlement substrates: coral larvae choose the place to settle based on several environmental cues, such as light levels, sound, and structure. The team will test which combination of physical, biochemical, and geochemical cues can be added to substrates to maximize coral settlement and growth rates.
• Workshops and capacity building: involve students through research grants and amply disseminate the findings to optimize the impacts on coral reef conservation and restoration across ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) member states.

Impact of the project

This project will revolutionize coral conservation by providing methods to sexually propagate coral species with economic value that have not been successfully cultured by fragmentation. The adoption of the developed techniques will greatly reduce wild coral harvesting, ensuring ecological sustainability while supporting livelihoods in the ornamental coral trade. The innovative substrates and propagation methods will also significantly enhance the success of coral restoration efforts.

In addition, this project will engage and empower a new generation of conservationists through hands-on training and collaborative research opportunities.

Major highlights

• Innovative ‘lab in a box’ that includes units for larval rearing will be installed in a coral nursery.
• Ex situ sexual reproduction protocols for coral species that were previously not “culturable”.
• Novel settlement substrates made from locally sourced, sustainable materials.
• Corals bred will be outplanted and monitored to assess the settlement success.
• Promotion of sustainable coral trade practices.

In 2024:

✅ Designed a coral settlement substrate.
✅ Developed a coral larvae collector.