Coral planting under a restoration project to repair the environmentally unique Kaafu Rasfari reef from damages began on Sunday.
Rasfari reef was declared a Marine Protected Area in 1995.
But the reef was damaged in August 2021 when the Panama-flagged ship MV Navios Amarilis ran aground. The owner of the ship was fined MVR 154.2 million.
The "Restore Rasfari" project was officially inaugurated by Environment Minister Aminath Shauna.
She was accompanied by Environment Protect Agency (EPA) Director General Ibrahim Naeem and officials from partner agencies Dhiraagu, Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) and Landscaping Solutions.
In her remarks before the coral planting, Shauna stressed the importance of the project and noted that it marks the first time that damage caused by a ship running aground on a reef is being repaired with funds collected as fines.
"We reserved USD 3.5 million received as compensation for damage caused to the reef from an incident two years ago to a separate trust fund. Work to restore the reef can be done through that trust fund," she said.
To launch the restoration effort, coral fragments nurtured by the EPA were installed in a coral nursery in the damaged area.
The ship that ran aground on the Rasfari reef damaged an area of 8,867 square meters and completely killed off live corals in a 2,882 square meter area.
The Rasfari restoration project is being carried out in phases. Monitoring the planted corals and replacing corals that die off will continue for five years.
