Transplantation of <i>Acropora</i> sp. for coral rehabilitation on faba substrate in Baluran National Park, Indonesia

The purpose of this research is to analyze the success of transplantation method using kerbstone media from blocks made of coal waste (fly ash and bottom ash) from thermal power station (PLTU) as an innovation in waste utilization and rehabilitation efforts to the damaged coral reef due to bleaching phenomena in 2020.The research was done from July 2022 to June 2023 in the waters of Bama Beach, Baluran National Park, East Java, Indonesia.The coral fragments of Acropora tenuis, Acropora intermedia, Acropora microlados and Acropora kirskyae was 6 cm in average size with 50 repetitions for each size.The average growth rate showed different values during twelve months of research since the transplantation was done.Acropora tenuis had the highest growth rate of 1.991 cm/ month.Acropora microlados 0.950 cm/month, Acropora intermedia 1.706 cm/month, and 0.702 cm/month for Acropora kirskyae.By using Kruskal-Wallis test for data analysing, obtained a survival rate of over 80% for all types, with Acropora tenuis as the highest (80.40%) and Acropora kirskyae as the lowest (70.70%).Therefore, kerbstone is considered feasible as a growth media for the coral reef as an effort to support Coral Triangle Initiative program in overcoming global warming as an innovation.