Coral reefs are less than 1% of the ocean surface area
However, about a quarter of marine species are distributed
It is the most diverse of all marine ecosystems
Hence the name
"Rainforest of the Ocean"
There are a total of 5 coral distribution areas in Beibu Bay, Guangxi
The total area is 3068.2 hectares
The two main distribution areas are
Distribution area of coral reefs on Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island
It is the only coral reef distribution area in Guangxi that has developed into a reef
The area is about 2990 hectares
Accounting for 97.5% of the total coral reef area in Guangxi
The formation of weizhou island coral reefs began 3100 years ago
As of 2017, the distribution area of live corals on Weizhou Island is 2855.5 hectares
Average coverage is about 10%
Among them, the largest coverage area is distributed in the northern sea of Weizhou Island
Coverage of 30%-80%
At the same time, the area of this sea is 30 hectares
It has the largest area of contiguous areas near China
Peony – Spiny coral community
It is more important and necessary to protect the existing corals in the waters of Weizhou Island
<h1>Legislation to protect the ecological environment of coral reefs</h1>
On July 1, 2018, the Regulations on the Ecological and Environmental Protection of Weizhou Island in Beihai City (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) were officially promulgated and implemented, and Since then Weizhou Island has had a "talisman". Since the implementation of the Regulations, the Weizhou Island Tourism Area has strictly implemented the spirit of the Regulations, adhered to the red line of ecological protection, built ecological green projects, promoted the construction of green ecological civilization, increased the law enforcement of ecological environmental protection on the island, and successively punished villagers for illegal acts such as digging and stealing sea sand, tourists privately mining live corals, illegal fishing, illegal sea tours and illegal speedboats, and jointly maintaining the good ecological environment of the most beautiful island.
In recent years, the seawater quality and marine ecological environment around Weizhou Island have been significantly improved, and the overall ecological status of coral reefs in the weizhou island area has improved, with coral species increasing from 46 species previously discovered to 62 species, and the coral coverage rate has increased by nearly 1%, of which about 42 species of reef-building stony corals, accounting for 10% of all more than 400 species of reef-building corals in China. In addition, there are more than 500 species of fish, more than 200 species of shrimp, more than 50 species of cephalopods, 87 species of phytoplankton, 90 species of zooplankton, 109 species of intertidal organisms, 279 species of benthic organisms, 80 species of swimming organisms, and a wide variety of shellfish and algae.
<h1>Sexual reproduction replenishes coral larvae</h1>
In 2015, Liu Xinming, an engineer at the Guangxi Institute of Oceanography, led a research team to start research on key technologies for coral expansion. Since 2016, Liu Xinming and his team have been on Weizhou Island every year to try night diving to observe coral ovulation, in order to collect coral sperm eggs in the wild for sexual reproduction, but nearly 100 night dives in the past 3 years have been fruitless. Starting in 2019, the team turned the "battlefield" from the wild to indoors, invented a "mother-son tank" that linked the breeding experimental cylinder and the water circulation cylinder, and created a "hotbed" for coral babies.
On April 27, 2019, the first batch of floating wave larvae were successfully solidified and the natural attachment of coral larvae was successfully realized, and the first indoor artificial breeding "coral baby" in Guangxi, which was experimented by the coral reef research team of Guangxi Institute of Oceanography, was finally successfully "born" in Weizhou Island after nearly 4 years of repeated experiments. At present, more than 300 coral larvae have successfully attached and grown antennae.
The first batch of artificially bred corals in Guangxi were successfully "born" on Weizhou Island, laying a good technical foundation for the restoration of germplasm resources and the reconstruction of island reef ecosystems in Weizhou Island and even Guangxi in the next step, which is of great significance to the restoration of marine ecosystems in the whole region.
<h1>The "Marine Rainforest" attracts whales</h1>
The good sea environment of Weizhou Island has attracted rare Brinell whales near the coast to "play in the water". Since 2018, small Brinell whale populations have appeared frequently in the waters around Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island, which is the first large cetacean population with near-coastal distribution that has been discovered Chinese mainland so far. The sea is home to coral reef ecosystems, high biodiversity and abundant food resources, with schools of fish such as the small Bruce whale, the small sardine, the round-snouted sea turtle, and the le fish, which are the main reasons for the visit of whales. According to statistics, there are more than 20 Individual Identification of Brucelloy whales in the waters of Weizhou Island.
<h1>Weizhou Island coral reefs help tourism in the North Sea</h1>
The "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" for tourism development in Beihai City proposes that Beihai will be built into a regional international coastal tourism city with marine leisure and vacation as the main feature, and Weizhou Island, cruise home port and Beihai Silver Beach will be built into three ten billion yuan bases. Weizhou Island is one of the marine tourism business cards of Beihai City, and coral reefs are the characteristic marine living resources of Weizhou Island.
The "13th Five-Year Plan" for the development of tourism in Beihai City clearly states that it will build a characteristic diving sports base on Weizhou Island and develop underwater experiential sightseeing tourism; build a museum of marine life with the theme of coral reefs, integrate tourism with science popularization, get close to and understand the ocean and coral reefs; and develop coral reef characteristic souvenirs and seafood. Rationally protect and develop the coral reef resources of Weizhou Island, and help the construction of a tourism city with marine characteristics in the North Sea.