Bid to replant Maya Bay coral hit by monsoon

[webfact]

Bid to replant Maya Bay coral hit by monsoon

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION 
KRABI

 

Photo from: Thon Thamrongnawasawat's Facebook

 

EFFORTS to restore coral at Maya Bay have been hampered by a strong monsoon and rough sea conditions, resulting in the survival of only 10 per cent of replanted coral.
 

Two months ago the bay area – one of Thailand’s most famous tourist attractions at Had Nopparat Tara- Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park in Krabi – was closed to all visitors in an effort to re-grow the heavily damaged coral reef.

 

Photo from: Thon Thamrongnawasawat's Facebook

 

The transplanting operation has not met expectations, says the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP). However, other efforts to restore the environment and plan for properly managed tourism activities are going according to plan.

 

The bay was closed to all tourism activities on June 1, following an agreement between the DNP and local tourism operators. It is hoped that the four-month closure will heal some of the environmental damage to the bay and the surrounding area caused by excessive tourism.

 

Maya Bay once had a large, colourful, and biologically diverse coral reef. But heavy boat traffic in recent years, combined with excessive tourism activities nearby, have nearly annihilated the entire coral reef. A key part of the recovery effort is aimed at regenerating the coral reefs lying just metres under the waters of the beach, which became famous as the location for the 2000 film “The Beach”.

 

Park officers and marine biology experts are working hard to encourage regrowth of the rich marine ecosystems and allow the natural beauty to again bloom for the reopening in October, says Worapoj Lomlim, chief of Had Nopparat Tara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. 

 

Worapoj says that, so far, the officers have achieved satisfactory progress on the natural regeneration on land. However, the underwater part of the operation has faced major problems from strong monsoons and rough seas, which have damaged most of the replanted coral and eroded the bay’s signature white sandy beach.

 

Their first try at transplanting produced mixed results.

 

Photo from: Thon Thamrongnawasawat's Facebook

 

The team has successfully replanted 512 colonies of coral in the bay, says Thikamphon Wongthawatchai, a marine biologist at Marine National Parks Operation Centre 3, who was worked on the coral reef restoration since the operation began.

 

“We replanted corals by collecting the living branches of broken corals from nearby areas and then attaching them to rocks, which we placed on the sandy floor of the bay, so the corals would grow,” Thikamphon explained.

 

“However, the unexpected strong waves during this monsoon season have washed the corals from the rocks and buried them in the sand, so most of the replanted corals died. Only around 10 per cent of corals, which were replanted deep enough to escape the force of waves, survived.”

 

Despite the high mortality rate of the replanted coral at Maya Bay, he says there was still hope for restoring the bay’s coral reef. 

 

Even after the bay reopens to visitors in October, all boats are prohibited from entering the bay. Saved from the daily assault of boat traffic, the coral reefs might naturally regenerate and gradually recolonise the bay to their previous abundance.

 

Thikamphon said the coral replanting task would continue until October. Having learned from the mistakes of the first two months, the team was confident that future patches of replanted coral would have a higher survival rate.

 

Meanwhile, on the issue of managing tourism after the bay reopens, Worapoj says the national park would not allow boats to enter the bay and tourist boats will be required to dock at a new floating pier in Loh Sama Bay. Passengers could reach Maya beach from the rear.

 

“We have not decided on the final plan of the new pier yet, but … the pier will be a floating pier, which would be large enough to moor eight boats at a time. There will be no solid structure built into the sea,” he said.

 

“We also have a plan to limit the number of tourists at Maya Bay, but we have not reached a conclusion on this issue yet.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30351580

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-08-07

[Chassa]

Replant coral? I thought it took millions of years to make  a reef. Optimistic!

[nobodysfriend]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Maya Bay once had a large, colourful, and biologically diverse coral reef. But heavy boat traffic in recent years, combined with excessive tourism activities nearby, have nearly annihilated the entire coral reef.

So , nearly nothing left anyway ... if ever the replanting of corals would be able to partly repair the damage done to the coral reef , it should be protected from tourist ( business ) forever .

 

 

 

 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, Chassa said:

Replant coral? I thought it took millions of years to make  a reef. Optimistic!

This is Thailand.. so much BS you can grow anything !!

[marko kok prong]

Another cock up,what a surprise.

[Shaunduhpostman]

It's possible to regrow/grow coral. I've seen first hand what they have been able to do at Permuteran, Bali in Indonesia. About 20 years ago, in this area, the coral had been mostly wiped out by unchecked dynamite fishing, the economy was based on fishing and they had destroyed it, no coral equals no fish. Then a local Balinese politician met reef growing experts Wolf Hibbertz and Tom Goreau at an Asia Dive exposition in Bangkok in 2000. He invited them to help start reef re-growth in Permuteran and by 2001 there were such good , tangible results that local dive shops and hotels began investing in an expanded effort. I think that there is also now more sustainable methods of fishing going again as there was much seafood being sold and eaten locally when I was there a few years ago. So with leadership from a world class group of marine biologists using cutting edge coral growth techniques, some grants and local investment, the community began a very successful re-growth of the reef project. Locals seemed quite proud of what they had as well, several of them remarked to me "We have Bali's and Indonesia's natural aquarium here!" Indeed, that is what it was like in 2014 when i visited, I have never been to a nicer place to snorkel in Florida, California, Taiwan, Malaysia or Thailand where i have done a lot of snorkelling.

 

They are re-growing the coral on various underwater re-bar structures that are charged with a very low level electric current. The water circulation between the bars plus, oddly, the electric current stimulate very rapid and very robust and colorful coral growth. What they are doing is right off of the beach and you can swim out just ten-twenty meters and see some of the many structures with already very healthy looking coral and many more types of fish than you will see anywhere in Thailand, tho that is partly down to the seas in this area having quite an incredible variety of fish and coral, the seas around Indonesia and the Philippines having the highest levels of marine bio-diversity on earth. 

 

The fully dedicated non-profit reef restoration organization at Permuteran is called "Bio-Rock" running a station that keeps an eye on things and  nurturing things along full time. They are parked right there watching the reef like life guards. While very impressive, it is still just a two hectare area that is being rehabilitated, tho that is currently the largest coral re-grow area in the world. And perhaps just as important, the local authorities and the whole community is behind letting the coral grow they are now trying to re-build their local economy on dive tourism. It is a brilliant place for tourists to snorkel and scuba dive, it also within a 45 minute boat ride of spectacular mostly untouched reefs in the Mejangan National Park. There are a good number of small guest houses, some restaurants and dive shops that are all well run and seem to be doing good business. I will definitely be going back.

 

If the people at Ko Phi Phi are serious about a reef returning, they should have a look at the bio-rock website and arrange to meet and/or visit and learn from the folks at  Permuteran. Based on this report and what they have had to do at Permuteran, the bad news about the Maya project seems to already have written on the wall, its going to be too little too late. They can't just expect to collect some coral fragments and glue them to rocks and leave them after October and tell boat operators to stay away expecting the reef will be back in a few years. The community in Ko Phi Phi as well as the govt. authorities in the area will have to have a real understanding and sincere and sustained interest in supporting the re-growth of the reef, they will have to continue to re-seed and expand regrowing areas, its a full time project but well worth it. Tho' even with the rebar structures and the low voltage current, the coral at Permuteran is not the most spectacular you'll ever see by a long shot. They still have a long way to go even with their sustained and intensive efforts. If you are interested in marine biology or into the aquarium hobby and or diving/snorkeling  as i am, Permuteran is a very exciting project. Unfortunately for the majority of the droves of Chinese tourists it won't be of much interest. Still I think Thailand has a great opportunity to show it cares and start a coral re-growth project at Maya BAy or perhaps some other devastated reef where the dive tourism industry could provide a boost. 

 

Link to the website of the coral Re-growth project at Permuteran:

 

 https://biorockbali.webs.com/

 

 

[worgeordie]

Placing the Coral frags on sand was not a good idea,

I hope the have learned from their mistakes,they should

have attached them to the old Coral reef,and they would

have probably survived,even with the storms.

regards worgeordie