ISRAEL: Israel builds Red Sea concrete reef to lure divers

Israeli and Jordanian scientists are building a giant concrete reef in the Red Sea to lure divers and snorkelers and protect one of the world's most diverse coral communities. Thousands of divers and snorkelers flock to the popular Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat and the near-by Jordanian town of Aqaba to marvel at the spectacular ocean life attracted by its coral reefs. But intensive diving is damaging the reef and researchers wanted to protect it without restricting tourism in the triangular marine border of Jordan, Israel and Egypt. "People and coral don't really go together," Nadav Shashar, a marine ecologist at Israel's Ben Gurion University told Reuters. "The divers don't really want ot damage the corals but they do it anyhow. So they love the habitat but they still damage it. So what we are actually trying to do is to give an alternative option." The solution? A contraption the size of a small house, made up of six concrete blocks weighing 4 tonnes each. "Instead of going to the natural habitat come and see the artificial habitat and also if you damage it or you do something bad about it, well, we can replace it. We can go and plant something," Shahar said. Hulking blocks of concrete might not appeal to divers used to weaving between wild, multi-coloured plant life, but after just a few months in the water the reef has already attracted more than 20 species of fish. Other resorts have used shipwrecks as artificial reefs to attract divers, but Shashar said this project is one of the first to construct a purpose-built reef, using specially designed concrete and silicon to hold coral in place. He argues the artificial reef causes less damage to the environment than a shipwreck. At the moment the concrete blocks look pretty stark. But Israeli and Jordanian researchers are growing rare species of coral in nurseries and hope to create a flourishing community within 2-5 years -- a feat that might take up to 100 years in the wild. Once the coral is ready, divers "plant" it into holes drilled into the concrete blocks. "We don't try to imitate the natural community. We actually give advantage to rare species, species that would be on the verge of extinction," said Shashar. The project will also provide a research base for marine biologists since some 40 different types of coral are clustered on a 10 metre strip of Red Sea coral reef compared to four or five on the same area on Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef. Funds from United States USAID-MERC and the British Whitely Fund for Nature were invested in the project that is run by Israeli and Jordanian scientists. The artificial reef, near Eilat's popular Coral Beach diving spot, was started as an experiment but researchers say if it proves a hit with divers and protects the reef, it could be replicated elsewhere.

ITN Source | October 15, 2007

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