BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
One of the driving forces behind building Tevana House Reef in Tanjung Bira was very much with the intention to preserve as much as the raw beauty that Tanjung Bira had to offer.
Currently our main focus of
Gaia One Conservation Project
is regarding the
Trash in Bira with the Local Community and our Coral Restoration Project with Ocean Gardener
If any of these projects interest you we urge you to come and be part of the solution.
TRASH IN BIRA
THE PROBLEM
Tanjung Bira boasts an incredible 2KM long white sandy beach. However every year, especially during the West Winds months of Dec - April, tonnes of trash gets washed up on our shores of Tanjung Bira.
Most trash from the ocean ends up on our shores and unfortunately unfortunately the local council and governtment bodies have not been able to provide effective counter measures or provide the facilities of trash bins and trash colelctors to manage the trash and this on-going problem.
When trash gets washed up shores and is uncollected, as soon as the winds change and we experience the East Winds the trash on the beach just gets taken back out into the Ocean to be washed up on others coastal shores.
While we understand that the main focus should be to reduce the amount of plastic waste as a whole, we also need to be realistic with what efforts we can focus on now.
OUR SOLUTION
At the moment with the colaboration of a few of the foreign owned resorts through an initiative called EcoBira, we at Tevana House Reef have hired a small team of Beach Boys from the local community to clean the beach.
Their tasks are mainly just to focus on colelcting the trash from the beach and the main road Bara Road. This project started in September of 2020.
RESULTS
In a matter of 9 months, we were able to clean up a substantial amount of the trash (swipe right to see results).
Fir the first time in years since Tevana House Reef first opened we finally have a clean beach on our shores. But our efforts cannot stop there. We are constantly facing these issues, the plastic problem is never ending.
We hope with more support we can increase our team to continue these efforts.
CORAL RESTORATION
THE PROJECT
Our project aims to create coral nurseries in a 50m2 radius, between 150m - 175m from Tevana House Reef shoreline based on the Ocean Gardener coral restoration techniques.
Just imagine gardening in the ocean. We create an environment where identified coral fragments can thrive in their nurseries and when they're ready we replant them into existing coral reefs for them to grow in their natural habitats
In 2022 we will be starting the first Ocean Gardener Coral Restoration Course where coral lovers can complete an internship to learn about how to identify and restore reefs. This 4 week program will guarantee an experience of a lifetime as you get to restore the reefs in Tanjung Bira!
TECHNIQUE
Currently our project consists of existing coral pods, spiders and 1 table rack and 2 Trinity racks for the coral cookie methods. We have also started 2 more nurseries in Dego Dego and Pulau Liukang. As of May 2022 we have planted 1801 corals and hoping to triple this amount by the end of the year!
Coral Fragments are collected from broken coral surrounding the Tevana House Reef dive site and attached to the existing structures.
We then conduct coral maintenance work 2-3 times a week to ensure no algae, sponge or other coral threats affect the growth of our corals.
RESULTS
By consistently carrying out this underwater "gardening" technique where we scrub, trim and encourage the coral fragments to grow, we're able to see that even less than a month of work, our corals are growing and have even covered the cable ties used to hold them to the structure.
It is our hopes that we will restore as much as the destroyed reefs in Bira to bring them back to their original pristine untouched beauty.
Our project not only focuses on fast growing reef building corals but also to create more diversity in our reefs hence why we use various methods to ensure this goal.
WHAT CAN YOU DO
REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE
Change your approach to trash and plastic waste. There are plenty of creative ways to reduce your usage. Make mindful decisions and know that even small changes can make a big impact.
If you need any tips or suggestions please feel free to contact us!
JOIN US
Contribute by either joining our Gaia One Travel Experience or the Ocean Gardener Coral Restoration Internship.
By being part of our endeavours you're immediately be able to participate in the much needed action and solutions required to protect our Oceans!
PROJECT UPDATE
We do our best to keep our contributors and supporters up to date with all that we've been up with GaiaOne Project and how the project is progressing
Sept 2022 - Dec 2022
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=logo}
-07.png)
.png)
%20(2).png)