Northolme Coral Reef Project

 

The Hilton Northolme Reef Rehabilitation project is being conducted in collaboration with the Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort and Spa to help to restore the reefs surrounding the resort which used to be a popular snorkelling site but which were impacted by the 2016 coral bleaching event.

The first steps were to establish what reef structures were present and to mark out a formal snorkelling trail for visitors to follow to see the best parts. Once we had established what the reef status was and what potential restoration activities could be implemented we established two small scale in-water nurseries to provide healthy corals to transplant out.

 

 

To initiate the active coral restoration measures, the MCSS team have built and installed several reef modules to implement Seychelles first artificial reef, which were done as a cooperative venture with our Swiss Embassy Coral project.

 

To date the projects restoration efforts results in:

o 4 Rope Nurseries (100 x 4 Coral Fragments)

o 1 Artificial Metal Frame (40 Coral Fragments)

o 4 Artificial Concrete Dome Structures (20 Coral Fragments)

o Coral Transplantation Sites (3 sites –> 60 frags per site = 180)

Below you can see one of our coral colonies in the nursery (left) and a map of the coral transplantation transects that have been the result of growing corals in our ocean-based rope nurseries (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To support our activities the resort has constructed a small kiosk from where we are able to provide information to visitors about the project. From this Kiosk, which serves as a base for the project staff, we are able loan snorkeling equipment and interact with guests who are interested in our guided snorkeling tour, which enables to enhance guest experience while give advice on safe practices and update them on our coral restorations efforts at Hilton Northolme. This helps raise awareness of the importance of coral reefs, their need for preservation/rehabilitation, the severely impacted reefs and present biodiversity in the Seychelles, while giving guidelines for marine-life safe and conscious snorkelling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are happy to take volunteers on this project, so if coral restoration and artificial reefs are of interest please read through the Volunteer information file and complete a volunteer application form and send it through to us.

 

To support our conservation efforts, you can also adopt a coral with us! Whether it’s a gift to yourself or someone else, you can now adopt a coral on-line!