By Jezza A. Nepomoceno
American singer-songwriter Rockwell Ryan Ripperger, better known as Stephen Speaks, recently discussed plans to help rehabilitate local reefs after snorkeling off Agho Island, a part of Concepcion, Iloilo.
“After [Super Typhoon Yolanda], a lot of reefs in the Visayan Sea were damaged,” he said.
The musician noted, during his snorkeling trip, he observed “a couple of healthy reefs, where there was plenty of coral and fish, but, for most part, it was dead reefs.”
Ripperger discussed plans during a recent meeting with representatives from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; non-government organization Oceana Philippines; the volunteer Visayas Sea Squadron; the Guardians of the Visayas Sea group; along with local government units from Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Masbate, and Capiz.
“The plan is to go find healthy reefs and damaged reefs, get a piece of coral from a healthy reef, grow them in the nursery, and, once they are big enough, we’ll plant it in the dead reef,” he explained. “Within a year or two there will be plenty of fish.”
The singer-songwriter said he plans on raising funds in order to build a coral reef nursery in Concepcion, to which Provincial Agriculturist Ildefonso Toledo assured support from the provincial government./JAN, WDJ
