Koh Yawasam East Nursery
Initiated in 2018 in collaboration with Projects Abroad Thailand, this coral nursery was first established approximately 10m off the east coast of Koh Yawasam at ~4m depth. Due to adverse environmental conditions, it was soon relocated a few meters further away from the island, and at about 6-8m depth. This new location proved to be much more suitable for long-term autonomous coral growth, and hasn’t changed since.
Projects Abroad volunteers worked on this nursery for about 18 months overall, with a frequency of one day every 3-4 weeks. During this time a total of approximately 1800 corals were propagated, of which about 1000* are now still alive and growing.
Being our first nursery, this location was often utilized as both a training ground for staff, and an experimental location for coral propagation technique tweaks.
Unfortunately, work on this nursery was abruptly interrupted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the coral fragments that were propagated have continued to grow extremely well, reaching fairly modest sizes for their age, and attracting a wide variety of fish and other marine organisms.
This coral nursery serves as a perfect example of how a completely barren sandy area can be restored to a functional and vibrant section of coral reef by means of our coral propagation effort.
Plans are in place to complete the restoration of this section of coral reef during the coming months; if you wish to be part of our coral restoration effort, do not hesitate to get in touch and book your excursion with us!
Alternatively, you might be interested in adopting a coral, or maybe even sponsoring a nursery section from home if you are unable to be here in person!
