Our goal is to protect and preserve marine fauna and corals
As part of our conservation projects based on the EcoCat sustainability program, and with the aim of protecting and preserving the marine fauna of the ecosystem located on the coastal fronts of the resorts in the Bávaro area, we carried out the activity of expanding the coral nursery, with the support of the Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies (FUNDEMAR) and Catalonia Hotels & Resorts, as well as various organizations in the region of Punta Cana and La Romana-Bayahibe.
The collaborators of Catalonia also participated, as well as the staff of the Mariana diving center, located in the complex.
The FUNDEMAR and Catalonia Hotels teams were trained to carry out the expansion process and thus immerse themselves in carrying out maintenance activities on the current structures. In addition, they installed 6 new structures, which were planted with large coral fragments, extracted from the current nursery of Acropora cervicornis or popularly known as Cuerno de Ciervo, thus completing a total of 16 frames in the coral nursery.
Coral reefs are capable of absorbing wave energy and help reduce erosion of coastlines. They reduce damage caused by storms and hurricanes, as well as the energy of tsunamis.
Many of the world’s coral reefs are currently in danger of extinction, causing the disappearance of the habitat of thousands of species of fish and shellfish.
At Catalonia Hotels & Resorts we promote the regeneration of this ecosystem with the development of coral nurseries. The first was carried out in Bávaro, in June 2014, with the Acropora cervicornis species and currently has 16 frames, and the second in Bayahibe was installed in October 2014 with the same species. Currently, it has a structure of 2 ropes, 4 frames, 2 tables and 1 dome. This nursery has approximately 1/2 linear kilometer of Acropora cervicornis tissue.
The objective of these nurseries is to promote the production of healthy corals that can later be transplanted to the definitive reefs to contribute to the regeneration of the coral reefs in the area.
In recent months, 540 linear meters of Acropora cervicornis tissue have been transplanted from our nurseries to the nearest reef between the Bávaro and Bayahibe nurseries.
This conservation program goes through continuous processes of maintenance and evaluation of the conditions of the nurseries. Currently, it also serves as a source of research for this fascinating species of animals that is still little known.
