November 2013 – New Coral Reef Protection Project: 'Moorings & Buoys'

18.11.2013

A recent grant from Coral Reef Care finally allows us to start the project 'Moorings & Buoys' which has been in the pipeline for a while. The placement of permanent mooring buoys for diving-, snorkeling- and fishing boats is to be instrumental in avoiding anchor damage on coral reefs in Jambiani and the neighbour village Paje. All local organisations concerned are committed to support the project.

We’ve decided to produce the six buoys for the pilot phase locally since importing such a small number would be too costly. The buoys are made from 6mm thick steel and are correspondingly heavy to prevent theft.

The Hallas anchoring system

The Hallas anchoring system will be employed to fix the buoys to the seabed. Thereby, a 50cm deep hole is drilled into the rocky seabed using a hydraulic drill and a stainless steel rod is concrete-casted into the hole.

Hydraulic underwater drill

Provided the pilot project is successful and the buoys are actually going to be used (i.e. anchors will not be dropped anymore) it is intended to extend the project to other places in Zanzibar, Pemba and along the Tanzanian coast.

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