NEWSCIENTIST.COM - Tsunami ravaged reefs best left to recover unaided
Added to website: 13 May 2005
13 May 2005
The best way to regenerate the scores of Asian coral reefs battered by the devastating tsunami of December 2004 is simple, say conservation bodies - leave them alone.
A new advisory report, commissioned by the World Bank, argues that governments should focus the scant resources available on minimising over-fishing and other hindrances to natural recovery, rather than launching into costly artificial reef-restoration projects.
Up to 20% of 174 sites now surveyed in Thailand were badly affected by the tsunami, with 13% being severely damaged, says marine biologist Alasdair Edwards, who chairs the World Bank’s Coral Restoration and Remediation Working Group. Levels of destruction are likely to be similar in Sri Lanka, he says.
A separate study completed in March by the Coral Cay Conservation group found that just 8% of reef coverage in western Thailand’s Surin Islands had been lost.
