A new project aims to breed genetically diverse reefs to protect these vital habitats from climate change.
Non-profit organisation Nature Seychelles has teamed up with Coral Spawning Lab and Canon EMEA for a new project aimed at restoring and protecting coral reefs against climate change.
In what the partnership describes as a “first of its kind in the region”, Canon will provide investment and imaging equipment for Nature Seychelle’s new coral breeding facility to enable researchers to study coral spawning events. The aim is to develop a deeper understanding of coral reproductive timing, post-settlement growth and survival.
Coral reef restoration in the Seychelles mainly relies on ‘coral gardening’ – a process whereby coral fragments are taken from reefs and grown in nurseries, before being transplanted into degraded areas. To date, Nature Seychelles has raised more than 50,000 coral fragments, and transplanted them into 5,000m2 of degraded reef.
15-month-old Acropora microclados spawned ex situ. Image: Canon/Coral Spawning Lab
Though successful in restoring health to reefs in the short term, this process results in a reef populated by genetically identical corals, meaning that it fails to create corals that can withstand events that degrade them, for example coral bleaching events.
“Currently, we’re essentially cloning corals, creating reefs of genetically identical species,” explains Dr Nirmal Shah, CEO of Nature Seychelles.
“Evolution thrives on diversity – the strong, the weak, the healthy and everything in between. To build truly resilient reefs, we need to embrace true diversity.”
The new facility aims to create a genetic bank of resilient coral species, to help protect and restore coral reefs long term.
Embryological development: zygotes undergoing first cell division following in vitro fertilisation. Image: Canon/Coral Spawning Lab
Coral Spawning Lab, a UK-based company that specialises in land-based sexual coral reproduction, will build the facility and train operatives in the Seychelles.
The equipment provided by Canon will facilitate photomicrography, photogrammetry and the production of high-quality imagery and videos for researchers.
Diverse ecosystem
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, with about a quarter of the world’s fish depending on healthy reefs to shelter, find food and reproduce. Reefs also protect coastlines from storms and erosion. More than 500m people depend on reefs for food, income and protection.
In April, the International Coral Reef Initiative reported that 84pc of the world’s coral reefs were impacted by the most intense global coral bleaching event ever. It’s the fourth bleaching event since 1998, underscoring reefs as one of the most vulnerable environments to climate change.
Earlier this year, it was reported that bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef, the Earth’s largest living structure, was at “catastrophic” levels.
Corals bleach when environmental stressors such as extreme heat cause them to expel the colourful, energetic algae that live inside them. If conditions return to normal quickly, corals can recover, but if the water stays hot, the corals die.
Acropora muricata (staghorn coral) juvenile. Image: Canon/Coral Spawning Lab
“We know coral bleaching is accelerating as our oceans warm, driven by the world’s continued reliance on fossil fuels,” president Surangel Whipps Jr of Palau said in April.
“We must urgently end the fossil fuel era and transition to a just, sustainable future powered by clean energy. Our oceans and the communities that depend on them cannot wait.”
2024 was the hottest year on record, with this year following a similar pattern of extreme heat globally, while global fossil fuel emissions reached record levels in 2024.
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