Scientists and conservationists have opened a window of hope to save the most fragile ecosystems and at the same time, more vital to humans, the reefs of coral, showing that conservation strategic plans fail tosave them from the threats to them.

So evidenced several restoration projects reefspresented at the World Congress of the IUCN, held in Hawaii.

“Coral reefs are barrier protecting the coast of the tropical areas of impact of storms and other extreme events; house the “pantry” fish on the planet; clean water ocean and are an important source of tourism revenue , “he told Efe Cuban researcher Reinaldo Estrada.

Estimates of the NGO The Nature Conservancy suggest that the services provided by reefs of coral provide economic benefits of 365,000 million dollars a year.

However, the “forests of the seas” as many call them experts , are considered the most degraded ecosystems on the planet because of its high sensitivity to changes such as increased temperature caused by climate change or acidification of the ocean (because each time have to absorb more CO2 emitted by humans).

These factors, along with others like pollution comes from land, the proliferation of invasive species and overfishing (in some cases as harmful as the use of explosives techniques), have ended up with 27% of the area of reefs of coral on the planet, and if no action is taken, the percentage will reach 60% in 30 years, according to WWF.

These threats “made sick coral” -a body fascinating mix of animal and plant- “manifesting their ailments through a whitening of its branches, which if not stopped in time, it causes death , ” explained Efe Rold Salm, scientific expert in these ecosystems .

The worst known episode of bleaching occurred in September 1998 when the increase in temperature of ocean ended with 16% of the world’s reefs; closely followed by the same month of the last two summers (2014 and 2015) where “only the conservation resilience has avoided such catastrophic mortality rates , ” said Salm.

How a reef is restored?

An example of that preservation plans are the best medicine to “cure” a reef and protect their “immune system” against threats is the Bay Kanehone, northeast of Honolulu (Hawaii), on which fall foothills of the towering volcanic mountains made famous film Jurassic Park.

Hank Lynch, one of the ecologists working in the area tells Efe that rains increasingly heavy, drag all the sea and filled with sediment bay which, along with the temperature rise of the water , has led to the expansion of an invasive algae that was destroying the reef, and affecting the species that live in it ( turtles marine, manta rays, hammerhead sharks or dolphins).

In order to save this jewel of biodiversity , The Nature Conservancy launched an innovative recovery plan in 2012, for which a team of marine biologists dives several times a week to start reef invasive algae and gather them into a giant vacuum cleaner submersible that builds up and then deposit them on the ground.

This technique allows starting 90% of harmful algae (biologists have collected 230 tons since the project began in 2012).

To end the remaining 10%, scientists in their laboratories breed a predator such urchin seaweed in order to then plant it on the reef and the remaining part is eaten.

The photographic material fruit of scientific monitoring of the reef during the last four years “shows that his health has improved, and that conservation has become so strong that largely able to recover from episodes Whitening occurred in the last two summers “says Lynch.

Something similar happens in the coral reef National Park Cienaga de Zapata in Cuba, where the protection of the area, along with strict controls on agricultural activities and the prohibition of fishing have led to preservation of biodiversity so extraordinary that locals refer to this place as “Nirvana”