First artifical reef in Ekas Bay
In the marine environment, HOTPlanet is proud to have initiated and privately funded the first artificial coral reef project in south-east Lombok. The reef is made of natural limestone (old reef) found in quarries in Lombok. Truckloads of coral were dropped to the seabed in 3-4 m water depth and piled up to make underwater substrate for fish and coral.
An MSc student intern was invited to assist and was sponsored by Heaven on the Planet with “free accommodation and cheap food” for nearly 6 months. The student was Tobias Hettiger of the Coral Reef Ecology Group (Geo-Bio Center, Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, Germany. Toby (Toby) learned to surf heaps better and also successfully installed our new artificial reef. Toby is now back at HOTPlanet two years later to inspect the reef. The news is wonderful. The reef is covered in fish and coral which grows naturally on the limestone substrate. We are now planning a bigger AID project to make a large reef and will be working in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Guests may also make their own reef during their stay to make Ekas Bay one of the most biologically productive in Indonesia.