Current Status of Coral Reef Restoration in Singapore

Since the mid-1960s, Singapore’s coral reefs have been impacted by a variety of anthropogenic disturbances such as coastal development, land reclamation and seabed dredging. Up to 60% of reefs have since been lost, and the remaining ones are more compact and shallow due to chronic sedimentation and unstable bottom rubble that is easily moved about by currents. Since the late 1980s, various attempts at restoring and rehabilitating Singapore’s reefs were initiated and an appraisal of these efforts is timely. We reviewed these reef restoration experiences and synthesized the lessons that are useful for future restoration strategies. The restoration approaches to date broadly include: mitigation measures, substrate modification, optimising methods for rearing scleractinian larvae, use of fragments and corals of opportunity (i.e. naturally fragmented corals and coral juveniles that have recruited on loose rubble) in in situ and ex situ coral nurseries, as well as transplantation of nursery-reared coral juveniles and fragments to degraded reefs and seawalls. The El Niño event in 2010 elevated sea surface temperatures and caused widespread bleaching of hard corals, which affected reef restoration efforts. However, the episode offered insights into the bleaching susceptibility of certain species as well as their suitability for rearing in nurseries and transplantation to other environments. The results from the various projects underscored the need to incorporate adaptive and flexible management strategies in reef restoration and the experience can be applied to future reef restoration to improve success. iafor The International Academic Forum www.iafor.org