Developing artificial reefs for the mitigation of man-made coral reef damages in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: coral recruitment after 3.5 years of deployment

Human stresses on coral reefs have increased to levels threatening their existence on a global scale. In the Gulf of Aqaba, many coastal coral reefs have been damaged by human activities, while many others are threatened. To mitigate such negative impacts, we have constructed a state-of-the-art artificial reef and deployed it in the Gulf of Aqaba in December 2008. After 3.5 years, the data obtained have shown extensive coral recruitment rates on the deployed artificial reef. This was suggested to be due to the high structural complexity of the new AR design. The newly created habitat is expected to protect the natural reefs by reducing pressure on them. This strategy is expected not only to be of environmental value to the marine ecosystem, but also to enhance eco-tourism in the local community. Based on the results obtained, it is highly recommended to use artificial reefs for restoration purposes.