How you can help restore coral reefs in the Maldives

I had been home for six months when the email arrived: “With the help of photosynthetic algae and guard crabs, sufficient sunlight and the right temperature, Betsy Andrews managed to grow exceptionally well. Almost all your corals have doubled in size.’

No, this wasn’t anything like that Little mermaid cosplay. It was an update on the coral colony I had planted – and labeled it with my own name – in the Indian Ocean, near the beach of Private Island Velaa. My installation is one of many aimed at putting an end to the dying that is not only happening in the world Maldivesbut all over the world.

The coral conservation program at Velaa is one of many urgent reef restoration projects taking place at resorts in this country of 1,192 small islands. In the Maldives, coral is everything. It supports the fish that people eat. It protects beaches from erosion. It is the ground under your feet – and the foundation of the economy. “People from all over the world come to these beautiful reefs for diving and snorkeling,” says Agnė Griciūtė, Velaa’s marine biologist. “And unfortunately the reef is in trouble.”

I had a closer look at the situation during my visit to Velaa, when I went on a series of dives with the resort’s dive master, Marta Pasztorova. We saw massive walls and tops of corals shaped like boulders, fans and antlers. Schools of blue triggerfish and five-striped bass flowed along their sides. Moray eels and groupers peeked from their crevices. Sharks and rays glided by. Napoleons stopped at aid stations to have their anvil-shaped heads nibbled by small gobies. And a countless number of other colorful, strange fish went about their business on the reef.

But that all happened at a depth of 20 meters. Closer to the coast the picture was not so rosy. “Do you know what bleaching is?” Griciūtė asked. “Coral is an animal, just like people. If it’s too hot, it dries out.” And that is just as problematic for coral as it is for people. When overheated, coral expels the colorful single-celled organisms that live on it. These zooxanthellae, as they are called, convert energy from the sun into nutrients for the coral; without them, coral turns white and begins to starve. Bleaching can occur periodically after events such as El Niño, which can cause particularly hot and dry weather.

“However, when conditions improve – when temperature and ultraviolet light are reduced – the zooxanthellae return, causing the color to return, and some corals survive,” Griciūtė explains.

The recovery is aimed at multiplying these survivors, because, the theory goes, they must have adapted to the new, warmer conditions.

Griciūtė led me to a table in the sand, where an intern, Henry Garber, had set up a few zip ties, a bucket of seawater filled with coral fragments, and a rebar frame in the shape of an eagle ray. We tied 15 fragments to the frame. Then we got in a boat and drove to a nursery in 10 meters of water, far away from the larger reef – and any coral-eating parrotfish or kissing stars. Garber donned a tank and brought the frame to the seabed while Griciūtė and I watched from the surface with snorkeling gear on.

The current El Niño, which began in early 2023, has affected 70 percent of the planet’s coral reefs in 67 countries. It is the second such event in ten years; the previous one, from 2014 to 2017, prompted Velaa and other properties in the Maldives to take action.

“Resorts have a responsibility to protect their home reefs,” said Arnfinn Oines of the Soneva Foundation, which supports coral recovery. Soneva Fushi. Guests can visit a laboratory maintained by the nonprofit organization Coralive, where coral reproduces and grows under controlled conditions before it is mature enough to be placed in the sea. Offshore is one of the world’s largest underwater farms that uses mineral accretion technology, or MAT, a weak electrical current that causes limestone to collect on frames, allowing coral to grow up to three times faster.

At the Four Seasons Resort Maldives in Landaa Giraavaru, the nonprofit organization Reefscapers has planted more than half a million new corals. Guests can also get involved in projects at resorts such as Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, Siyam World Maldives, Baros Maldives, and the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli, where Reefscapers has just launched a new nursery.

While it may seem like a drop in the bucket to get involved while on vacation, the scientists and advocates I spoke with said every effort matters. “The goal is not only to create more coral cover, but also to create opportunities for corals to adapt,” says Coralive founder Ahmad “Aki” Allahgoli. “We need to plant as many corals as possible – and we can’t do that alone.”

As we paddled around Velaa lagoon, with our masks in the water, Griciūtė and I explored other methods her team is trying: stainless steel ropes with growing coral; MAT wired frames; PVC trays for caring for soft coral. Then she pointed to a few metal adoption tags, hidden among coral mounds full of fish. These robust pieces of reef had grown from fragments like the ones I had planted.

Back home, as I looked through photos of my own colony, I noticed that it is on its way to a similar maturity, as the reef around Velaa has returned to health.

A version of this story first appeared in the November 2024 issue Travel + Leisure under the heading ‘Under the sea’.