Project title: Enhancing Substrate Availability to Accelerate Reef Recovery Through Underwater Bioadhesives

Project lead: Prof. Scott Bryan

Co-applicants: Prof. Leonie Barner, Prof. David Suggett, Mr. Robin Philippo

Countries involved: Australia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia

Takes place: Pom Pom Island (Malaysia) and Shushah Island (Saudi Arabia)

Supporting institutions: Queensland University of Technology, Tropical Research and Conservation Centre (TRACC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Total budget: USD $1,498,781

Duration: 30 months

Project overview

Coral reefs are experiencing erosion worldwide due to destructive human activities (such as blast fishing), regional bleaching, and storm events. This results in extensive fields of dead, broken corals that stall reef recovery and resilience. In an effort to amend damaged substrates, coral restoration practitioners currently use very costly synthetic materials that have high carbon footprints (e.g., plastics, metal, concrete), making this approach unsustainable and economically unfeasible to implement at large scales. To overcome this challenge, a novel solution is underway: underwater adhesives synthesized using biobased and biodegradable materials to be applied in coral reef restoration procedures. Mimicking the sophisticated glue that mussels produce to attach themselves to rocks, the bioadhesives will be tested in three distinct ways:

• Adhesive for use in coral fragment attachment;
• Substrate binding and stabilization glue that penetrates rubble beds and binds loose material;
• Moulded structures with different forms to replace the need for plastic or metal meshes that are installed to hold and stabilise coral substrate.

Unlike other solutions in the market, this adhesive is not based on epoxy, cyanoacrylate or polydopamine, and does not rely on any chemical reaction for curing, which makes it safe for both the marine environment and the person applying it. Plus, the adhesive is made with cheap materials, representing a sustainable, scalable and accessible solution to incorporate into broader coral restoration projects worldwide.

Specific objectives

1. Integrate underwater bioadhesives with other restoration strategies (e.g., modular reef structures).
2. Develop a novel solution for unstable steep reef slopes that are particularly challenging restoration environments.
3. Support direct coral attachment in outplanting to reduce the use of concrete.

How the objectives will be met

• Experimental Design of Field Trials

• • Site characterization (incl. benthic imaging, benthic community hydrodynamic)
  • Production of bioadhesive materials required for the field trials

• Project Establishment and Capacity Building: TRACC research team will be trained on the bioadhesives properties and how they are manufactured as well as the different techniques and technologies needed to undertake the site characterizations and surveys.

• Red Sea and Malaysian Field Trials: test the bioadhesive materials in two sites during 18 months: Pom Pom Island (Malaysia) and Shushah Island (Saudi Arabia), and assess their longer-term performance.

• Post-trial Evaluation: data analysis and submission of journal manuscripts.

• Knowledge Transfer: host a workshop to train Southeast Asian reef restoration practitioners and establish of a regional knowledge hub.

Impact of the project

This project intends to develop the bioadhesive for coral restoration to a point where it is ready for deployment and large-scale manufacturing.

This project will train TRACC’s researchers, positioning the organization as a Southeast Asian hub for innovative restoration practices using bioadhesives, and enabling them to support practitioners across the region.

The team will also promote knowledge sharing and transfer outside of the consortium partners by organizing a training workshop aimed at ~30 practitioners from other Southeast Asian countries.

Major highlights

• First multi-year field deployment of bioadhesives in the world.
• New metrics to quantify substrate stability will be developed, as no metrics currently exist.
• A ‘how to’ resource with bioadhesive guidelines for reef restoration will be created and shared.