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The Larvotto Marine Protected Area (33 hectares) KEYFACT
protects a Posidonia meadow, an iconic Mediterranean habitat.

BIOTECH
3D printed artificial reefs

teeming with life

An initial assessment reviews the scope of the Larvotto Marine Protected Area
pilot project, created in 2015 by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and

the Monegasque Association for the Protection of Nature.

After more than three years sitting on the sandy floor TRUE HABITATS FOR SPECIES
of Larvotto cove in Monaco, have the 3D printed ar-
tificial reefs become true underwater habitats? How To understand the gradual colonisation of the sub-
have these structures - submerged at a depth of thir- merged reefs, the classic method of visually counting
ty metres - been colonised? The survey was carried fish populations in a 3 metre radius around the reefs
out by a multidisciplinary team of experts in marine is combined with biennial automated photography
ecology, engineers from the private sector and mana- tracking to identify more timid species, at a rate of
gers of Marine Protected Areas in Monaco. Two ma- one photo every 30 seconds. Since 2018, 23 fish
rine ecology researchers presented their conclusions species and 3 species of cephalopod and crustacean
during Monaco Ocean Week. have been seen within or near to the reefs. Swimmi-
ng amongst shoals of pomfrets and wrasse, divers
EFFECTIVE NATURAL were able to identify conger eels, brown comber, sea
LABORATORIES bream, moray eels and scorpionfish, but also lobs-
ters, apogons and even a young dusky grouper. Clut-
These six clever islets filled with nooks and crannies ches of squid and octopus eggs were regularly seen.
have proven to be “genuine natural laboratories for The marine ecology researcher Alexis Pey concluded
scientific research”, summarised Elisabeth Riera, that “these observations demonstrate the effec-
from the ECOSEAS laboratory at the University of tiveness of the reefs designed by Professor Patrice
Nice Côte d’Azur, emphasising their effectiveness in Francour”. The results collected at the Larvotto site
restoring coastal habitats. “This new generation of confirm the hypotheses suggested by their designer:
reefs offers immense structural complexity designed species which have a major ecological and economic
to attract specific species”, continued the biologist, interest colonise the reefs, with some even adopting
who demonstrated the ecological performance of the new habitats in the long-term. These reviews will
the material used. Unlike conventional concrete, the continue in the years ahead.
communities fixed to these dolomite sand-based
reefs do not trap heavy metals from the ocean.