With the aim of contributing to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity and coastal protection, the German Development Cooperation, GIZ, and dozens of scientific, governmental, environmental and private institutions of the tourism sector that contribute to the protection of underwater life, develop Coralmanía 2021, the largest massive coral transplant in the region.
Coralmanía emerged in the Dominican Republic in 2016, from the hand of the Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies (Fundemar), FundaciónGrupoPuntacana, Counterpart International, CEBSE and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with support from GIZ.
For the 2021 edition, Costa Rica, Honduras and the Dominican Republic joined forces to perform a massive transplant almost simultaneously between November 27th and December 10th. The goal is to transplant at least one square kilometer of coral reef, that is, more than 1,800 coral fragments that will be placed in their natural environment to reintegrate with the ecosystem.
In Bahía Culebra, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Culebra Reef Gardens, the Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology (CIMAR) of the University of Costa Rica, Peninsula Papagayo, the National System of Conservation Areas and Raising Coral Costa Rica are the in charge of implementing the transplant. For its part, in the Golfo Dulce, Raising Coral Costa Rica is the organization that coordinates the event. In total, they have the support of more than 70 professional volunteer divers.
Fully aligned with the vision of sustainability
Manuel Ardón, senior vice president & COO of Peninsula Papayago, stated that: “Coralmanía is a project that fully aligns with the vision, commitment and principles of sustainability under which Peninsula Papagayo governs its operations and adds to the marine conservation efforts and of coral restoration that the company has carried out since 2018 in Bahía Culebra in conjunction with the members of the Sectorial Alliance for Corals”.The species selected for transplantation with the support of volunteer divers are: Acroporacervicornis, Acroporapalmata and Pocillopora spp.
SvenjaPaulino, director of the Biodiversity and Business Program in Central America and the Dominican Republic explained that “This initiative allows GIZ to continue promoting actions to protect biodiversity in the region and increasingly encourage the participation of different social actors regarding the protection of the underwater life and the oceans”.
Coralmanía 2021 is part of the cooperation between the sister countries Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, whose objective is to promote the conservation and restoration of coral reefs in the three nations, through the transfer, exchange and consolidation of experiences and tools. It has the support of GIZ, through the Regional Fund for Triangular Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany. For more information, visit: https://coralmania.org/
