Reef Balls To The
Rescue
Of Turtles
| KUCHING, Wed: Sarawak will use environmentally-friendly and non-toxic "reef balls" as artificial protective barriers in an effort to protect its depleting turtle population. State Minister of Environment and Public Health Datuk Amar James Wong said Sarawak will be the first to adopt the method in Asia. The reef ball was invented by US-based Reef Ball Development Group Ltd, a non-profit organisation helping to restore the world's ocean ecosystem. "Reef balls are constructed from fibreglass moulds using cement with the same pH as salt water, because of the use of special mixtures and microsilica," he said at the launch of Project 1 of the Sarawak Reef Ball Working Group in the Talang-Talang region, a haven for turtles. The reef balls to be used can last for 500 years and contain no toxic materials such as heavy metals, petroleum and biologically-active compounds. - Bernama |