Revitalizing the Mediterranean: Restoring the Orange Coral through Innovation and Community Engagement Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2024- Nominated

The Mediterranean Orange Coral Reforestation Project (MedCoral), developed in collaboration with the scientific organization Hombre y Territorio, aims to recover and plant the orange coral Astroides calycularis, an endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea currently threatened by pollution and climate change. This coral, which exclusively inhabits this region of the planet, is endangered due to factors such as rising sea temperatures and the spread of invasive species like the Asian brown algae Rugulopteryx okamurae.

Initiated in 2023, the project has established four "coral gardens" in Almuñécar (Granada, Spain), equivalent to 60,000 coral units planted, thereby contributing to the creation of Europe's first artificial orange coral reef. This year, the project plans to replant an additional 60,000 corals in Nerja (Málaga, Spain) with the aim of creating the first corridor of artificial orange coral reefs in the Mediterranean. In total 120.000 corals will be replanted. The reasons behind this project lie in the importance of oceans, covering 70% of the Earth's surface and crucial for biodiversity and CO2 absorption, absorbing about half of CO2 emissions. However, oceans are severely affected by plastic pollution and global warming. Regenerating marine ecosystems and protecting their biodiversity are essential for ocean health.

The creation of the reef in Almuñécar has tripled species richness in its vicinity and attracted 90 new species of marine organisms in just one year, including fish, crustaceans, mammals, and mollusks. Coral reefs are vital ecosystems providing food, livelihoods, and coastal protection to over 500 million people in more than 100 countries. Despite their value, these ecosystems are rapidly degrading due to rising sea temperatures, overfishing, and ocean acidification. It is estimated that the world has lost at least one fifth of its coral reefs and could lose up to 90% in the next 30 years. Replanting this species has resulted in a significant increase in biodiversity in Almuñécar, according to the Shannon biodiversity index, which has increased from 1.63 to 2.73 in six months, reaching highs of 2.98 and 3.02. This indicates that the fauna associated with reef modules has notably increased, transforming a barren artificial reef into a rich orange coral reef teeming with associated fauna, many of which have commercial value.

The project has been developed through the Engagement area of imagin and has actively involved users, whose participation has been crucial to its success. Users participated by engaging in various financial services and products, making them key players in the restoration of the Mediterranean orange coral. A campaign was launched where each user who brought their paycheck contributed to the replanting of a Mediterranean orange coral and received an NFT certifying their contribution to the sustainable challenge. This collection, called the Corall Collection, used blockchain technology to show user participation in ESG actions, being the first project in Europe to do so. The coral reef restoration campaign has been the most remembered sustainable action by users in an internal survey from January 2024.