Coral degradation is becoming an alarming problem in the Philippines, a country that is home to the world’s most biodiverse coral reefs. 

And yet, Coral Gardening, a proven ineffective method used to “restore” corals, is still legal throughout the country. Republic Act No. 10654 states that all coral farming activities are legal, provided that an ‘Aquatic Wildlife Farm Permit’ issued by the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (an agency under the Department of Agriculture) is secured.

Coral Gardening is not the solution to restore the coral reefs. It needs to be banned.

Without coral reefs, tons of marine organisms will no longer have a home, marine life will suffer, fish will no longer become a significant food source, thousands of Filipino fisherfolk will lose their source of income, and so on. We should not wait for this moment to come. Sign this petition now and make your voice heard. Help save the corals!

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What is Coral Gardening? 

Coral Gardening, otherwise known as Coral Transplantation, is a method to restore coral reefs. The process involves taking a coral fragment, either broken from a reef deliberately or due to natural disturbances (e.g. storms, waves), and transferring and “planting” it to a damaged coral colony.

Why should it be banned in the Philippines?

Coral Gardening does more harm than good. It does not work for most coral species; and in the Philippines alone we have over 500. Successful coral gardening depends on “planting” the right coral species in the right areas. People don’t seem to realize that coral reefs are not rocks--they are living organisms. Therefore if you stick one coral species next to another, they will most likely fight and kill each other off simply because they are not compatible. In addition to that, in the Philippines, there are not many naturally detached coral fragments to go around. This leads to people needing to forcefully break off coral fragments from their coral colonies, which can lead to disastrous results. To sum up, the coral gardening process endangers both parties involved: the coral colony where the coral fragment came from and the damaged colony that the coral fragment is planted on.

Here for the Reefs is a group composed of students from De La Salle University Manila. We created this petition in the hopes of bringing light to this issue. 

Don’t forget to like our Facebook page: Here for the Reefs