The St. Croix-based The Nature Conservancy will get about $1 million in Stimulus Funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a coral reef restoration project in the Virgin Islands.
The project will use elkhorn and staghorn corals.
"We focused on elkhorn and staghorn coral because they are very important coral species to reef ecosystems across the Caribbean," Aaron Hutchins, The Nature Conservancy’s director of government relations for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, said Thursday from St. Croix.
They are also included as threatened species on the federal Endangered and Threatened Species list.
All the territory’s corals suffered bleaching in an epic 2005 event when the ocean water got hotter than normal. Additionally, the territory’s corals remain under stress from myriad factors.
"They’re still in bad shape," Hutchins said.
Plans call for The Nature Conservancy to establish coral nurseries at two locations on St. Croix and one on St. Thomas. However, Hutchins said that his organization is still in talks with the Planning and Natural Resources Department to determine just where those locations will be.
The project will use coral broken either naturally or from an accident like a boat grounding, Hutchins said. They will be placed in the nurseries located where conditions are right for growing coral.
"They will be in a controlled environment free from predators and inspected regularly," he said.
When the corals are big enough, he said they’ll be transported to other locations, with a piece broken off to start another coral in the nursery.
"It’s like gardening but different tools and a different environment," Hutchins said.
While The Nature Conservancy will do the work directly on St. Croix, it will hire the St. Thomas-based Nautical Farms on St. Thomas. Additionally, Hutchins said The Nature Conservancy will have a staff member based on St. Thomas.
The three-year project will create three full-time jobs as well as two that will last for six months at a time, Hutchins said, The Nature Conservancy is getting ready to post the job notices. Additionally, he said that materials will be bought locally.
"This is making an opportunity for more Virgin Islanders to become involved," he said.
The funding became available July 1.
The Nature Conservancy also has a similar project in Florida.