Artificial reef construction Boracay - a small local marine environment project to rebuild artificial reef off Boracay island's coast
Made of clay - Terra cotta - these structures are about 70 cm diameter and high and will be dropped into deeper water to facilitate the rebuilding of artificial reef space and thus provide living space and shelter for marine life.
Fish and other marine life depends on having shelter. Natural reefs provide all a healthy and active reef-life needs. Shelter, food, beauty of living, a pleasant environment for colorful marine life.
However if the reef is more and more destroyed by increasing number of dropped anchors as well as pollution from overpopulation of the nearby island - then artificial measures are needed to create new reef space.
These and similar artificial reef building structures will soon be covered entirely by various coral growth. A newly sunken wreck for example takes but a very few months to be almost entirely covered by a huge number and variety of sponges, corals, soft corals and other marine growth and inhabited by schools of fish.
An earlier similar project was successful until the first Taifun - then most of the shallow Terra cotta structures broke apart. This time a depth of approximately 30 meters is planned.
Other materials for artificial reef construction would be:
- Car and truck tires - however care needs to be used with such artificial materials to assure no toxic solvents are flowing into nature to poison the environment more than it would support and benefit the natural environment development. Car tires and truck tires piled up have the advantage of surviving all storms, surge and waves but usually take longer to be fully covered by marine growth.
- Ships also are used to be emptied of all liquids, oil and any dangerous material, wires, etc and then sunken in a safe place to build an artificial reef of greater size.
The best method however always is the natural reef protection from the very beginning. Artificial reef re-construction such as this mini-project on Boracay island is expensive and inefficient. The few dozen small Terra cotta container - as shown on the picture - cost some 1000 US$. Environment protection when done from the very beginning always is free and of lasting nature - while such artificial reefs may last but from a few months to a few years until they brake again into peaces.
