Abstract

Singapore’s accelerated coastal urbanization sincethe 1960s resulted in 65% of its coral reef habitat lost to landreclamation. Increased sedimentation reduced underwatervisibility from 10m then to less than 2m today. Under theseconditions, reef restoration to increase coral cover of degradedreefs and initiate colonization of non-reef areas remains viableconsidering the precise mass spawning events, active settlementand vigorous growth of coral larvae. The restoration techniquesemployed should withstand the high suspended sediment anddestabilized reef substrate. Coral fragments were translocatedfrom a reef close to impending port development to reefsfurther away in a 4-year project aimed at assessing whether 1)restoration can assist recovery of degraded reefs and 2)non-reef areas can be transformed into new reefs. Within thefirst three years, over 1200 fragments from 22 genera weretransferred to in-situ nurseries at the recipient sites, of whichalmost 900 were subsequently transplanted to a degraded reefsite and a non-reef site with an overall survival rate of over 80%.The project’s results will help to establish protocols to supportmanagement decisions on coral relocation and restoration in arapidly urbanizing coastal environment.