GILI ISLANDS BIOROCK PROJECTS

There are currently 63 biorock structures projects around Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air at this present time, their aim to create a coral reef and generate marine life around it.

This is a huge amount of work, some are shaped like Starfish, some ar swimthroughs, theres even an aeroplane and a Manta shaped one.

A little technical stuff because it is actually really easy.

Two electrodes supplied with low voltage direct current are submerged in sea water. Electrolytic reactions at the cathode cause minerals naturally present in sea water to build up. At the same time a wide range of organisms on or near the growing substrate are affected by electrochemically-changed conditions, shifting their growth rate.

Stray or loose living corals are carefully collected from nearby destroyed reefs and transplanted onto the structures. They are attached with wires or wedged between steel bars. These coral bits are quickly cemented into place by growing minerals forming over the structure’s surface. The reefs are electrically charged to grow.

The reef restoration project is only one phase of a bigger overall plan. The timescale of
the project is many years as coral grows slowly and releases spores only once a year to repopulate other areas. One of the many benefits of the reef restoration project is that reef fish, schooling fish and many other marine life forms gravitate to the area. It is a fish nursery as well as a coral nursery and therefore will become an excellent snorkeling and dive site.

The locations of the new artificial reefs on Gili Trawangan start in front of Villa Ombak hotel and are positioned all along the beach front up untill the north of the island. They are all in water 8-16 metres deep, purposely made so snorkellers can also see them clearly, with structures made of steel bars, all vary in shape and size from tunnels to domes and swim throughs.

Go and have a look !