Caribbean jewelry studio, ib designs, announced this week that its Elkhorn Collection fundraiser initiative has raised $1,500 since May 2012 to support The Nature Conservancy’s Coral Restoration Program on St. Croix and St. Thomas. A portion of the proceeds from the coral-inspired jewelry collection benefits the conservancy.
Kris Massicott, owner of ib designs, said her customers often perceive the custom jewelry design as the “tree of life,” and that is exactly what the federally-endangered elkhorn and staghorn coral is in the sea.
“These coral species are the foundation of our reef-building species throughout the Caribbean,” Massicott said. “We were excited to launch it and we are thrilled with the success of the program in such a short period of time. People love the design.”
"The funding ib designs generates for coral restoration in the U.S.V.I. will help us with our maintenance of the nurseries and monitoring of transplanted corals,” said Kemit-Amon Lewis, coral conservation manager with the conservancy. “But the outreach and public awareness that we have received from ib and their collection also benefits the program.”
Through the program, elkhorn and staghorn coral, previously broken from large hurricane or storm waves, are rescued and are cultivated in underwater nurseries. The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) team maintains and monitors the nurseries, using funds from sources including ib Design’s elkhorn collection.
“Last winter, we transplanted just over 1,000 corals onto seven sites on St. Croix and St. Thomas. At those sites, we are still observing 97 to 100 percent survivorship of those corals transplanted,” Lewis said, adding, “We are also observing rapid growth rates, which is very promising for the project and the corals with which we work.”
Controllable threats that result in damage to the coral populations include discharges into the ocean, pollution in our coastal environment – which includes the entire landscape of the small US Virgin Islands, physical damage to reef by boats, anchors, and divers, and unsustainable use of our marine resources.
“If we tackle these issues, we will help to make coral reefs more resilient to climate change – better able to adapt and to survive,” Lewis said. “I am personally very excited about the work that we are doing in the U.S.V.I., and it is very humbling that others (including ib designs) are also excited about our work, enough to support its continuation.”
Massicott said ib designs will continue the fundraising program indefinitely to support the restoration project, which she views as critical to the fragile oceanic ecosystem. She encouraged the support of the program through TNC directly or with the purchase of the elkhorn design, which is available in gold and silver as a bracelet, cord bracelet, ring, pendant and earrings.
View the collection on www.islandboydesigns.com.
