Reflection

Over 50% of the world's reefs have died in the past 30 years, and up to 90% may die in the next century unless we do something about it. While covering only 0.0025 percent of the ocean floor, corals provide nearly half of the world’s oxygen. My piece sheds light on an efficient method to restore our endangered coral reefs: coral farming. After discovering the vast importance of coral reefs on the balance of our ecosystem, I was interested in how we could save them. This was where I came across coral farming, the process of carefully raising coral fragments and planting them near damaged reefs, which has been proven to be highly beneficial in restoring depleted reef communities. The center of my painting is a wire mesh structure, which helps develop coral fragments. The rainbow of corals and seaweed represent the healthy corals that are grown in coral "nurseries." In the future, I hope we can revive most of our depleting reefs by applying this particular process. As corals continue to bleach and millions of sea organisms lose their homes, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to restore the reefs. The earth's species are all interdependent, and the fall of one kind hurts another. Therefore, the climate change crisis is an issue of saving all species on our planet, including our own. With a unified effort, I have faith that our corals will become the flourishing, lush jungle I picture them to be in "A Coral Garden."