The Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) in Sharjah has implemented a coral reef cultivation project in the Al Hamriyah region.
The coral reef farming project aims to achieve sustainable development of marine life, increase biological cover and biodiversity, as well as rehabilitate marine life.
Four types of hard coral reefs are found in the Arabian Gulf including, Acropora, Porites, Turbinaria and Platygera.
The project will help in the rehabilitation and restoration of coral reefs and will help in increasing marine life.
Coral reefs maintain the balance in the marine ecosystem and will further offer sustainability.
Coral colonies will later be transferred in the second stage from their places of growth and fixed in developed places.
As coral reefs grow in large quantities from a small colony, the process used for their growth can be replicated in the future.
Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chairperson of EPAA said, "The coral reef cultivation project in the Al Hamriyah region is divided into two phases. The first involves the installation of bases (metal wires) in shallow areas ranging from six or seven metres deep, and then monitoring them during the growth period, which is usually in the summer after the end of the breeding season because it achieves the highest rates of growth and survival compared to the winter season."