An initiative led by The Clean Wave Foundation allowed maintenance work to be carried out on the coral reefs in the Las Pelonas sector of Culebra Bay in Playa Ocotal (Carrillo canton). This was also possible thanks to the help of ten divers who undertook the task.
In the last few months, four coral reef maintenance activities have been carried out in the Las Pelonas sector of Bahia Culebra in Ocotal Beach thanks to an alliance of The Clean Wave Foundation with private companies, the Municipality, and other organizations.
According to Andrés Bermúdez, President of The Clean Wave, the Marine Research Center of the University of Costa Rica maintains a coral reproduction project on that beach, which was cleaned in December, January, February, and now, in March.
“The Foundation performed maintenance work on the structures where coral fragments are cultivated for reproduction. That task was executed together with Culebra Reef Garden to restore degraded coral reefs,” Bermúdez explained.
The United Nations (UN) Environment Program pointed out that coral reefs exist in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. They sustain oceanic biodiversity and provide significant economic, social, recreational, and cultural benefits.
Bermúdez added that each coral maintenance day is accompanied by solid waste removal from Ocotal Beach, an initiative supported by the Municipality of Carrillo.
“The local government has helped us a lot. In addition, the work carried out with the corals was done in coordination with the Oceanic Adventure Center and B.A. Divers, the idea is to achieve that the corals have less competition and, therefore, a greater growth”, said the leader of The Clean Wave.
During the last cleanup campaign in Ocotal, 25 volunteers from Alianza Mar y Tierra, the Municipality, Coast Guard, Oceánica, and B.A. Divers participated.
“The response from the community has been very positive, which has motivated us to organize the future. The people’s reaction indicates that we’re creating greater ecological awareness little by little,” expressed Bermúdez.
The total waste totaled 124 kilograms, of which 112 kilograms were not recoverable, and only 12 kilograms had commercial value. During the latest Ocotal cleanup rounds, contaminants such as metals, chairs, ordinary waste, PVC pipes, fiberglass, cables, metal buckets, a harpoon, a refrigerator door, cigarette butts, plastic lids, glass, and cardboard, were removed.
