Pointe-aux-Feuilles is found in the East Coast of Mauritius and the site is commonly known as “Eau Bleue” in French, meaning blue water. The site covers an area of approximately 2,000 ha (20km2) and is highly visited by tourists and locals.
The site is currently not a protected area and requires urgent attention given the amount of biodiversity it contains and its importance in maintaining the ecosystem functions over the place. So far 61 species of macroalgae, 110 species of corals, 132 species of fish, highest density of nudibranch found all over Mauritius, highest density of plankton in Mauritius and several species of endemism.
The main goal is the protection of natural processes and active restoration of corals using the aid of technology to achieve the first ever technology-based reef restoration and raising awareness of the community.
The site for reef restoration has been badly affected over the years, with overfishing, sea level rise, rising temperatures, coral bleaching, crown-of-thorns predation, destructive practice of anchoring, tourism industry through snorkelling and site visits, destruction of the forest adjacent to the sea, unplanned development of houses with canalisation of sewage to the sea and flash floods.
Through Tech4Nature, over 25,000 coral fragments will be placed over the site onto concrete blocks, galvanised structures and natural basaltic rocks to support coral growths with the help of the local communities. Amazingly, while corals are restored, biodiversity has also increased over the site advocating further large-scale reef restoration with the support of technology and declaration of the site as a Category IV IUCN protected area in the first instance and making it a strict nature reserve Category Ia in the future.
With and development of appropriate technology and digital solutions, active reef restoration is carried out via coral farming and subsequent awareness raising activities to prevent conflict among the locals and other stakeholders that will bring the site to a level benchmark for the declaration as a marine protected area.
