Gili Trawangan

Helen and I had been following the a reef building technology called Biorock for over a year and we were aching to work on the project. After many months of starts, stops, false starts, screeching halts, earthquakes, typhoons, and general world economic disappointment we finally made it to Indonesia to work with the Delphine Robbe and the Gili Eco Trust who sponsors the Biorock Project as well as many other conservation projects on Gili Trawangan. The Gili Islands are three little blips of land off the north west coast of Lombok and just across the Lombok Straits from Bali. We knew Gili Trawangan, or Gili T as it is called, was small, but we were both a little shocked when we circumnavigated the island in one hour at a leisurely stroll.

So, what exactly is a Biorock?

Before I answer this, let me tell you a bit about coral and why it’s important. First of all, coral is an animal, not a plant or some type of rock. A cluster of coral polyps is called a colony. A cluster of colonies is called a reef. Coral reefs are nursery grounds to 25 percent of all marine species and they are home to nearly 33 percent of all known fish. Without coral reefs protecting the shorelines from currents, waves and storms, there will be loss of land due to erosion in many areas. So, if the coral goes, then fish go, and the land goes. In the late 90’s the Indonesian gov’t  sent out a pamphlet supporting dynamite fishing (drop dynamite in the water…kaboom…fish come up), a practice that is known to destroy entire marine ecosystems. Cyanide fishing is also common practice (yes, even the fish you eat in the UK and US may have been fished this way). Also, poor land management practices resulting in huge sewage and silt runoff is another cause of reef degradation. That’s all I’ll say about one “green” element of coral. Now let’s talk about another “green” aspect of coral: tourism dollars! Every year people spend millions of dollars to dive and snorkel on the coral reefs around the globe. Tourism is the largest industry in the world and sustains 10 percent of all jobs. In some areas, one square kilometer of coral reef can generate nearly US $3,000,000 dollars in tourism. In comparison, dynamite fishing in the same area would yield a one time only income of US$15,000. This is a very abbreviated list, but whatever your reasons, we need healthy living coral. It’s that simple!

The Biorock process works by applying a low voltage electrical current to a metal structure placed in the sea, causing it to amass a solid limestone coating, enabling accelerated development of corals growing on it and thereby providing homes for reef fish and protecting the shorelines (fig. 1). The electric current causes minerals that are naturally dissolved in sea water to precipitate and adhere to the metal structure. Derived from seawater, this material is similar to the composition of natural coral reefs. Corals that are attached to the structure use it as a foundation for the colony. Conventional artificial reefs are typically made from manmade materials like sunken ships, planes, cars, or concrete and even though they provide shelter and thereby attract reef fish, they will never grow into a true coral reef. The Biorock process increases the growth rate of corals to well above normal, giving them extra energy that allows them to grow in conditions that because of global warming would otherwise kill them. When the structure is operational the coral grows 3-5 time faster than normal and when the power is off the coral just grows at its natural rate without any injury or side-effects. I know this is a lot of info but it’s necessary to understand why we were so attracted to this project.

Figure 1.

Here are pictures of some Biorock structures; as I write this there are 39 structures around the island covering an area over 1.5 kilometers. The diver in the first picture is Dr. Tom Goreau who worked with the late Dr. Wolf Hilbertz inventing the Biorock process for coral restoration. The next pics are Delphine, Helen and I cleaning and planting coral, the rest are from the Eco Trust archives.

When we arrived, our first big project was to build anti-erosion beach breaks on the north side of the island. A side effect of dynamite fishing is that since there is nothing left to reduce the power of the waves, when they hit the shore the beaches wash away during the storm season. The previous year some larger breakers had been installed and the difference was amazing. This year we added close to 20 more. This is how it goes: The gabions (Webster’s Dictionary: gabion | noun | a wirework container filled with rock, broken concrete, or other material, used in the construction of dams, retaining walls, etc.) were pre-ordered so we’d unfold them, place the structure on a small styrofoam barge and load it about ¼ of the way with broken concrete blocks that were kindly donated by anybody who didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of their construction projects. Next, we floated the whole thing out to the desired location, tipped the barge a little and guided the cage into place and its new home. From there, it was just a matter of piling more concrete on the barge and floating it out, dumping it (again....and again...and again...!), and then finally wiring the top shut. As I began to find out very quickly, most of the projects we’ve been doing on Gili T were very easily said….

With so much boat traffic, the cables to the Biorock structures are bound to get accidently severed every now and then. When this happens you go out at low tide, which was 7am in this case, and do a basic cable splice. To keep the water out and protect the new join we use a PVC step down tube filled with resin. Three hours later the resin is as hard as a rock and ready to go.

On the first Friday of every month the Eco Trust and it’s supporters sponsor a Clean-Up Day. Collect a full bag of trash and get a free dive. Anywhere in the world this would be considered a bargain – diving ain’t cheap so tourists spending an hour of their precious (and usually hungover) time doing a little good and they get a great reward. Everybody wins! And not only do you get your free dive, we even give you a bag so you can clean up a bit while you’re down there too! The last photo is Helen showing some ideas for recycling newspaper into parcel bags. This project will create employment for locals and rid the island of some trash at the same time.

Living on the island is not all work, work work – all work and no play makes Sheila a dull girl! When Australia is running their celebrated Melbourne Cup (like the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont rolled into one), Gili T erupts in celebration with drinking, debauchery, and boat races. Each dive shop enters its fastest, most perfectly tuned, overhauled, freshly painted boat in a race around Gili Meno and back. Helen and I were on Fern’s boat working security because sometimes the boats tend to cut corners and if there are any snorkelers that wander into their path … we’ll let’s just say “fish food” and leave it at that! At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter who wins because the the entire island is too drunk to really care. The last picture is what happens when you show off in an area crowded with boats that are much larger than yours. Needless to say, the boat captain lost a lot of cred over his little boo-boo.