Coral Restoration at Xcalak

National Marine Park, Mexico

In March 2013, the Leadership Learning Community was hired by the MAR Leadership Program (MAR-L) to evaluate their program. The evaluation team conducted site visits to spend time with fellows and the people who work with them daily to learn firsthand about the challenges, achievements and impact of their conservation projects.

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Name of Fellow:

Gabriela Nava

City, Country: Chetumal, Mexico MAR-L Cohort Year: 2011 Project: Creation of Acropora palmata

Coral nurseries at Xcalak National

Marine Park.

Key wins:

Introduced an Acropora palmata coral nursery at Xcalak National Marine Park Quintana Roo.

Engaging communities by training fishers and therefore creating economic alternatives at Xcalak National Marine Park.

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The coral reef is a garden of life and rebirth. Its structure provides habitats for fish, and its strong roots protect the land from destructive natural storms. The Acropora palmata,  grown  in  Gaby’s  coral nurseries is considered to be one of the most important reef building corals in the Caribbean. Working to save the environment for both the coral and local fishers, Gaby is leaving a lasting legacy for coral nursery models in her home country Mexico and for the conservation field by building a sustainable network of committed fishers, community members, rangers and fellow MAR Leaders to carry the project forward.

I. Chapter 1: The Story of Place

We met Gaby and her partner, Miguel Garcia Salgado, on an early, warm February morning in Chetumal, the capital  of  the  Mexican  state  of  Quintana  Roo.  With  warm  smiles  and  anticipation  for  the  day’s  events,  we  load  into  Gaby  and  Miguel’s  large  passenger  van  packed  with  oxygen  tanks  and  other  dive  gear.  We  will  make  the  three hour drive from Chetumal to Xcalak National Marine Park, which lays exactly on the other side of the crescent shaped Bay of Chetumal. Every now and then the road rises and turns and we catch a quick glimpse of the Bacalar Lagoon. Then we drive for hours down a flat sliver of road that cuts a straight path through the dense green foliage that rises five feet high on either side of us. And we delight in the smells of taco stands serving delicious cochinita pibil. Gaby and Miguel make this drive often and recall past adventures of the drive. On one occasion they came across a beautiful black jaguar in the middle of the road, but as quick as it had appeared, it disappeared out of sight.

Gaby’s  Acropora  palmata coral nursery site is housed at Xcalak National Marine Park. The park itself is made up of crystal blue Caribbean waters, white sand, and a thriving wildlife. Declared as a site of national importance for coral reefs in 2000, the flora and fauna in Xcalak are abundant. Stand still for a few minutes and it is very likely you’ll  catch a glimpse of a white egret or other wild birds up in the tree tops. The town of Xcalak is a small and tranquil fishing village of brightly colored buildings with a population of about 400. Once in a while you may hear a motorcycle pass or school children kicking around a soccer ball, but for the most part, the rhythmic ocean waves crashing onto the shore make up the sights and sounds in Xcalak.

Coral reefs, which cover just 2% of the ocean floor, support 25% of ocean life and feed over a billion people. 1 The Acropora palmata or Elkhorn coral is considered to be one of the most important reef building corals in the

1 Vance,  Eric,  “Can  coral  nurseries  bring  reefs  back  from  the  Brink?”http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coral-nurseries-bring-reefs-back-from-brink&print=true

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Caribbean. The species itself is complex, orange in color and has many branches that create habitats for lobsters, parrot fish, snapper and shrimp. The Elkhorn coral grows very fast; however, it is also highly delicate and susceptible to disease and water temperature  changes.  As  Gaby  says,  “The  Acorpora  like  to  be  near  the  waves;  it’s  better  for  them  to  be  in  moving  waters.”

II. Chapter 2: The Story of Gaby

MAR-L fellow Gaby Nava exudes kindness and sincerity. She has an open, warm smile and authenticity that puts us immediately at ease. As a child in Veracruz, Gaby fell in love with the ocean spending much of her childhood playing in the waves and swimming. She was excited when a school guidance counselor told her about Marine Biology. When she became a Marine Biologist and learned to dive, Gaby became passionate about the coral reefs.

As a biologist in Veracruz, Gaby was called in when ships ran aground causing serious damage to the reef. She had firsthand experience with the lack of interagency coordination in response to these accidents. The lack of coordination meant that data was not effectively collected and shared. There has been a lack of effective enforcement to hold the shipping industry accountable. The shipping companies do not pay for the damages

they cause or the cost of restoration. It will take government agencies, the army, and NGOs working together to create stronger penalties and enforcement that in turn will create strong disincentives for ships to get too close to shore, and shift some of the costs to shipping companies.

Gaby and her partner Miguel were frustrated by the damage to the coral and began to discuss the need for an organization devoted to protecting coral. Together they started a non-profit organization, Oceanus, A.C., in 2007 to focus on coral reef conservation through research, monitoring and restoration. Oceanus is also a member of Alianza Kanan Kay a fisheries management collaboration working to create a network of fishing refuges in Quintana Roo.

III. Chapter 3: The Story of the Project

As we make the trek from Chetumal to Xcalak, we ask Gaby about the coral nurseries. Over the three hours, Gaby is endlessly enthusiastic as she draws maps for us on the back of car seats, tells stories, and answers our questions patiently and thoroughly. Gaby and Miguel are working in three protected areas where they have started coral rehabilitation nurseries, which are being successfully replanted. The process has been successfully refined through trial and error as they learn about the optimal conditions for growing the coral in order to design implement and monitor coral rehabilitation sites and nurseries. Her MAR-L project was to work with the local

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community to restore four reef sites (500 m2) by increasing the coverage of Acropora palmata coral through the establishment of 10 coral nurseries and the transplanting of 4000 new corals.

As we pull into Xcalak National Marine Park, we are met by the athletic and fit Maricarmen Garcia who by the time we arrive at noon has already gone for a five-mile run and put in a full morning as Executive Director of the park. Also on hand is Oscar Salazar, a sturdy, muscular, quiet fisherman and leader of the Tourist Cooperative of Bahia Blanca, who will take us out in his boat to see the coral nurseries. Oscar is concerned that it will be too choppy to snorkel and that we might not have good visibility, but we climb aboard the white boat with its bright blue canopy and head out to investigate. Gaby explains that there are three nurseries placed within a 20-foot area. She points to an area where the waves build up into whitecaps as the ocean floor drops off. That will be a good place for transplanting the corals, but the currents are too strong for the nurseries where the temperatures and currents need to be just right. Two nurseries are thriving and will soon be replanted, but the coral in the third nursery is dying. Sometimes the smallest changes can make a difference.

We are in luck. The water in the nursery area is calm enough for snorkeling. The young corals are the color of sand, and at first it is hard to see where they are set in a grid of PCV tubes. They have begun to branch out, which Gaby explains is a good thing. Beautifully colored small fish dart in and around the nurseries and the larger colorful coral reefs close by. As we surface and rejoin Oscar in the boat, Gaby tells us that Oscar helps care for the  coral.    He  has  learned  to  dive  and  Gaby’s  admiration  is  evident  as  she  says,  “He  knows  more  about  the  fish  and coral in this area than the biologists. When there is a problem with the fish or the coral he knows before the researchers  do.”    Gaby  is  trying  to  raise  funds  to  pay  Oscar  and  other  community  members  for  their  stewardship  of the coral.

The goal of the MAR-L program is to support innovative projects that can be replicated and brought to scale in order to significantly impact the health of MAR. Plans for replicating this project are well  underway.  It  is  interesting,  Gaby  says,  “Now we are taking this model to other national parks. For example when we arrived  to  Sian  Ka’an  the  first  time,  we told them about the coral nurseries in Xcalak. They  said  they  really  wanted  to  do  it  also.”  Still,  the  nurseries need care, and for her project to scale requires the involvement of a lot of people helping with the planting and tending the coral beds. Gaby

“Now we are taking this model to other national parks. For example when we arrived to

Sian  Ka’an  the  first  time,  we  told  them about the coral nurseries in Xcalak. They said they really

wanted  to  do  it  also.”

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and  Miguel  are  constantly  on  the  road  traveling  across  the  Mexican  states  of  Quintana  Roo  and  Veracruz.  “We  travel  a  lot,  we  spend  few  days  in  our  house,  and  last  year  we  stayed  about  a  month  in  our  house,”  Gaby  tells  us. Even though they love the work and Gaby assures us that it is a lot of fun, she knows they need to recruit more help from the local community, so she is doing educational programs and showing local people how the coral is planted. She also has worked with local fishermen to teach them about the coral and hopes this can become an important alternative livelihood for people in the community while freeing her and Miguel to start new nurseries in other locations.

IV. Chapter 4: The Story of MAR-L in Gaby’s Life

Through the MAR-L program Gaby was able to attend the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the Mote Marine Lab of the University of Miami, one of the foremost research centers for coral reef restoration in the world. As a result of her attendance, the University of Miami will be supporting Gaby in the execution  of  a  number  of  her  project‘s  components.    This  helped  Gaby  to  develop  the  technical  expertise  and  ‘know  how’  she  needed  to  refine  and  adapt  the  process  for  her  successful  nurseries  in  Xcalak.  She  is  becoming  recognized as an authority for her innovation in coral restoration, and on July 9-13, 2012, used her individual training funds to attend and present at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns, Australia. She presented her coral restoration project and also gave a talk about the MAR Leadership program. Reflecting on this experience  she  says,  “Being  able  to  participate  in  the  different  conferences  and  have  access  to  results  of  recent  research  has  been  a  great  learning  experience.…  To  participate  and  give  presentations  in  front  of  the  world’s  top  coral reef researchers and to receive feedback from them has  helped  me  grow  personally.”

Gaby is thoughtful about the ways in which MAR-L has developed her leadership and contributed to the success of the project. She is reflective about becoming more confident and able to talk to and win people to her project as  a  result  of  the  program.    It’s  hard  to  believe  that  she  has  not  always  been  the  self-assured advocate, innovator and entrepreneur that she is today. She dismisses this high praise and laughs good naturedly as she describes earlier days when she was shy to speak at conferences or ask for money. She proudly describes her recent funding pitch that she thinks will be productive.

Over a delicious lunch of coconut breaded lion fish with mango sauce, the team has a chance to ask Maricarmen, Oscar,  Miguel  and  the  rangers  how  they  have  seen  Gaby’s  leadership  develop  since  her  participation  in  MAR.    They had all experienced and gave testimony to her growing persuasiveness and the contagiousness of her passion  for  the  coral.    Gaby  was  excited  to  get  this  feedback,  “I  was  surprised  to  hear  from  the  Xcalak  rangers  that  they have been appreciating the project. I never asked them directly. It gives me a lot of ideas to get them more involved.”

The MAR-L network has also been important for Gaby. Gaby knew of Maricarmen and had seen her before, but they  had  not  really  worked  together  before  Gaby’s  MAR-L  fellowship.    By  housing  her  project  at  Maricarmen’s  park, the Executive Director is able to support Gaby’s  project  with  the  park’s  resources.    The  rangers  who  have  become fans of the project knock on doors in the community to help turn out volunteers for educational programs about the coral restoration project.

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Gaby is building local sustainability for her project in Xcalak. In addition to doing fundraising to pay local volunteers, Gaby is experimenting with business models to support the restoration. For $25, donors can sponsor one coral and will receive a picture of the coral, and the name of the donor will be painted on the tubing. She is exploring the possibility of funding the restoration as an eco-tourist venture where tourists would pay to help with restoration. The current location is too far from the large resort areas; therefore, an eco-tour operator wanted  Gaby  to  start  a  coral  nursery  closer  to  one  of  the  resorts.    She  didn’t  think  the  conditions  would  be  right  for the coral but given its potential as an educational tourist opportunity, she thought she’d  give  it  a  try.    Even  though the coral did not survive, as Gaby had expected, she was undaunted by this and happy to have tried it and gathered more data about successful growing conditions.

Like other MAR-L fellows, Gaby embodies action learning. She is an innovator at heart and wholeheartedly embraces experimentation as well as the opportunity to learn from both the successes and failures. She is stockpiling the information about the current conditions and water temperatures that support successful reforestation. There is little doubt that Gaby will bring all of the leadership skills and resources of her MAR-L fellow to new nurseries, supported by innovative models of community and financial support.