Together with the Marine Lab Center, we planted a dedicated ARTEBENE coral garden at the Maldives as a special ARTEBENE environmental initiative. Planting corals contributes significantly to the preservation and restoration of sea corals. Intact coral reefs provide shelter to animals, because they are habitat to fishes and millions of other creatures. Moreover, corals protect coasts by reducing the effects of severe sea storms.
To plant coral gardens, small mud balls are formed as a first step. Each mud ball is carefully laid down by hand and, as a second step, planted with a broken coral. Beate and Rüdiger Kress planted more than 100 new corals for ARTEBENE this way and laid the foundation for a new coral garden. This coral block has been entered in the sea chart under the name of ARTEBENE. Now we have to be patient and to wait for what will develop here in the coming years. Many thanks to the whole Marine Lab Center team, we really learned a lot!