Tuesday October 29th 2019 | 19:45 – 21:30 | Instituto Cervantes Utrecht |Domplein 3, 3512 Utrecht |
To this day, we have lost a quarter of all coral reefs worldwide, and 60% will be destroyed in the coming 30 years. How did this ecological disaster occur, and what can we do about it?
This has everything to do with profit maximisation. Exploitation of coastal zones with unregulated construction has not only destroyed valuable ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass fields, but also increased sedimentation into coastal waters, leading to degradation of coral reefs. Combine this with chemical contamination from industry and agriculture, overfishing, and climate change, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
CoralGardening is a company aimed at restoration of these reefs. Artificial reefs provide a hard substrate on which natural reefs can grow, providing an attractive ecosystem for both divers and marine fish. We will talk about the causes of and solutions to the degradation of coral reefs with Frank van Klaveren and Vera Aarden, the founders of CoralGardening.
This evening is organised in collaboration with AEGEE-Utrecht. This talk is free of charge; afterwards, there will be drinks at cafe Hemingway!