Coral-life in American Samoa's Leone Bay is recovering well 10 years after the 2009 tsunami tore through killing most of the protective reef, a lawmaker says.
Photo: 123rf/ dam@seaphotoart.com
Fofo District representative Andra Samoa said the waves wiped out 90 percent of coral-life in the bay.
With federal funding from the US Fish and Wildlife they built 58 coral nurseries to help repopulate the reef, the faipule said.
The programme started in 2014.
"Five years later the US Federal Coral Reef Taskforce members, from Washington DC from throughout the United States, they witnessed the growth of the restoration project.
"We've done a lot in terms of restoring, 70 percent of the corals have been restored."