The Coral Micro-Fragmentation Project is funded by Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) and started in November 2021. The aim is to experiment with this new restoration methodology never studied in the Maldives. It has been observed in different studies, how micro-fragments (<1cm), coming from the same colony, grow faster to reach each other, compared to the growth of a singular fragment. It is fundamental for the micro-fragments to have the same genetics otherwise they will not merge, but once merged together they reach the size of a recruit! This method has been used mainly for massive and encrusting corals, although we experimented with micro-fragmentation also for Acroporidae and Pocilloporidae corals. Once grown up into juvenile colonies the corals are replanted on the reef.

Due to their small size, micro-fragments are very vulnerable to parasites and predation. For the first stages of the study, they have been covered with mesh domes and frequently cleaned from algae and parasites. To obtain such small fragments (<1cm) we used the Coral Cutter Gryphon Aquasaw, specifically designed to cut corals and coral cutter kits.