Fiji reef restoration project

So I ended up having a great discussion with the owner of the resort i stayed at in Beqa Island Fiji. We are going to start up a coral restoration and farming project in the lagoon out in front of the resort. The purpose will be to improve upon the 'house reef' which is the coral reef about 100 yards from the resort and the barrier reef surrounding the island We will also be creating a program to teach guests about reef restoration and how they can help. The purpose will be to create a stunning local reef that the resort, guests, and local fijians can be proud of.
First step will be the construction of the rebar tables to support the coral frags.
Next is the collection of coral specimens based upon color, form, and growth
Then there will be mounting of the frags to concrete plugs and attaching them to the table.
This will be proceeded by the growth stage which will be documented every 3 months. Along with this will come maintenance of the rebar tables and frags growing on it.
After a year the corals will be review to see if they are ready to be transplanted back onto the reef.

Also a part of the project will be rubble coral restoration. This will take broken or damaged corals laying on the sand bed and transplant them back onto the reef using an underwater epoxy to attach them.

Will have more information as things develop, but thats the basic idea behind it. This will hopefully bring in like minded individuals who will want to stay at the resort and become a part of the restoration effort. More info on this to come. We are looking at setting up a group of 10-15 people to come out with me and start the project and 'cherry pick' nice corals to go onto the racks. If you are a certified diver that's a big plus.... again more to come

The resort link is Lalati Resort & Spa | Boutique Luxury Honeymoon Dive & Adventure Resort on Beqa Lagoon Fiji
The trip will include

Meet & Greet in Nadi International airport upon arrival into Fiji
Private group ground transfers
Private return boat transfers
7 nights accommodation
3 gourmet meals daily
3 days participation in coral reef restoration work
Fijian cultural night experience
Village visit
All Fiji government taxes

The trip time for this is going to be toward the end of Feb 2014. I hope i can find some interested parties that want to go. Average trip cost is 2500.00 this is for 7 nights including airfare

 

Wow that is awesome.
To bad I already am fronting up some serious cash in october to go on vacation or I would be all over this!

 

I have been working on this with my local club and hope to get a few more people that might be interested. here is more info

The package is for a 7 night package and is all inclusive (not including the wine, beer, liquor and sodas at the bar or some activities and spa treatments). The quoted price is $1745 per person for the entire package. The only thing they would need to pay for is their air to get to Fiji. If your group wants us to organize their air for them (as a group only) then we are happy to do it and will get you the best pricing we can find. If the group, or some of them in the group do not want to have us work on the international air for them that is fine, but it may mean we will not be able to do the remaining members of your group either. The reason is that Fiji Airways requires that we have a minimum of 10 pax in the group (to be call a group and qualify for those terms) for whom we will be purchasing tickets. If there are more than 10 in the group but enough of them want to get their own tickets and that causes the remaining members of the group number to fall below 10, then we can not do the group thing because they will not meet the criteria. Just let me know how you and the group want to proceed. And if you would, please confirm the specific days you want to be at the resort. Which 7 nights do you want, and how many people will be coming at your earliest possible date.


Once we receive the dates and expected number of travelers, then Susan will need to make up an invoice for the group, or an invoice for each individual in the group if you do not want to handle this aspect of things. If you want Susan and me to handle it then we will need the following information from you for every member of the group:

Their full name(s) as they appear on their passport
a copy of their Bio page from their current passport
Their personal e-mail address
DOB, Sex, Passport # and exp date

If we are going to work directly with you for the group, and they will get their own air then we only need the following:

The participants full name (so we know who is coming)
The room bedding configuration requirements (couples or two singles)

For our record keeping process we will refer to your group as the "S*** Coral Restoration Group" or "SCRG" for short. Once you give me the specific dates you want to be at the resort (not your fly out of LAX dates) then Susan will prepare the invoice for your SCRG and send it to you. The group deposit or the individual deposits, if they decide to go that way will be due within 10 days of receipt of the invoice(s), regardless of which way we go - individual invoices or one group invoice.

So i hope we can get 10 people to go, if we can get up to 20 people then it's 175.00 off the price for each person. Ill run some airfare prices the airline is air fiji leaves from LAX. You will have to get your own flight or transport from PDX to LAX. You can figure about 1200.00 round trip airfare for one person at the normal rate. If we can get group rate it will be a lot cheaper.

 

wow got to be some people interested?

 

I would love the opportunity to do this darn you job and money. I wish my company (environmental consulting) dealt in this field.

Have you thought about contacting universities for assistance? I am sure there are grants and such that may help fund this project, at least for students.

I graduated from FSU (I took oceanography and coral ecology courses) and someone over there may have interest in this.

 

If you had done this two years ago before I had a baby, I would be all over it! Seems like a very cool project, and one that I am truly interested in.

 

Just caught this thread - I will raise the flag and try to help you out. I love this. I am not scuba-certified but I will try to help raise awareness.

matt

 

Thanks Matt! I thought i would post some pics of the area and the reef to maybe entice a few people

These are photos of the barrier reef around the island. Lots of nice corals!

 

Beqa Island is famous for the firewalkers something you can check out when your there

 

any chance to change it to maybe march or april date?...