Phuket's Reef 'two-thirds Gone'

[george]

Phuket's reef 'two-thirds gone'

Divers contribute to the reef's destruction, officials say

PHUKET: -- Two-thirds of the coral reef at the Thai resort of Phuket has been destroyed as a result of the tourist trade, according to Thai officials.

Debris from building works accounted for most the reef's damage, said spokesman for Phuket Marine Biological Center, Nipon Pongsuwanthe.

Diving and fishing also contributed to the reef's demise, he added.

More than four million people visited Phuket island last year - an increase of 2% from 2002.

Tourism surge

Three episodes of coral bleaching during the 1990s - an environmental occurrence attributed to rising water temperature and pollution - had also destroyed the reef, Mr Pongsuwanthe said.

Official tourism groups are aggressively promoting the Andaman Triangle, which includes Phuket and resorts in the Krabi and Phang Nga, as a prime marine tourism attraction.

The government wants to double the number of tourists to the country by 2008.

Tourism currently accounts for 6% of Thailand's economy.

--BBC 2004-09-20

[Bizz]

THE OCEAN IS OUR PLANET'S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM

Some people believe being eco-friendly is extremism, or just a marketing ploy, or somehow robs you of life's creature comforts. Although I do not consider myself extremists, I am fed up with seeing the destruction caused by tourism in other areas. It is our duty to protect the local environment and coral reef.

Why do we treat it as a Global Garbage Dump?

POLLUTION

The ocean absorbs a great amount of carbon dioxide and pollutants, but pollution levels of our whole Earth system are reaching beyond carrying capacity. As human population has increased, so has the deterioration of the world's ocean ecosystems.

About half of all new development in the U.S. occurs along coastal areas. Pollution from developed areas drains into the ocean killing marine life, threatening human health, causing toxic algae blooms and forcing beach closures. Human pollution is destroying coral reefs and coastal habitat which are vital for breeding, food and shelter for marine species. Vast amounts of pollution are draining into our ocean waters daily from human-related activities, causing major declines in species and threatening the planet's ecological stability - and therefore our life support system.

[LadyinRed]

Ignorant tourists feeding mega-rich businessmen feeding corrupt ministry bodies - part of the deadly equation that results in reefs dying?

There seemed to be a sharp increase in day trip boats around Phuket, and now more speed boats are going to Hin Daeng/ Hin Muang and the Similan on a daily basis.

Diver's cannot be entirely blamed on this. There should be an area catered for beginner divers so that they cause minimum damage while enjoying their new found skill.

Is there a harmony on making money and environment protection?

Day trip boats nowadays look like farmers herding cattle

[Strummer]

This is true all over the world. I have been a frequent diver since 1968 and can tell you that it too many divers. The diving marketing associations who hide behind the moniker of Training Associations are the ones who get the first bite at a new divers wallet. It is clear that they provide only lip service to the issue or protecting the reef because they are vested in more divers with more gear. I can tell you that most of the Instructors don't even know how to control the buoyancy!

It's worse in the Carribbean Islands. I've only been diving Thailand for three yeas but I can tell you from what I see the reef will be trash in 5-10 years!

[Hua Nguu]

It is very convenient to blame divers and tourists for the destruction of the reef of the andaman.

But it seems to me that the thais are perfectly able to perform this task themselves.

I am surprised that the article doesn`t mention dynamite fishing, fishing using poison, the run off from the huge shrimp industry in this general area, poor raw seasage management, not only from tourism, there are quite a lot of thais in this area also you know industrial waste ... you name it.

Putting all these factors together I would imagine that the problems caused by divers would rank at the bottom of the list.

During the monsoon, many diving locations are inaccesible due to high swell etc, but will still receive full "benefit" from the other contributing factors as mentioned above.

At the shops in Rawai Beach in Phuket and Susaan Hoi or shell cementary in Krabi along with a number of other beach resorts, there are countless shells, shark jaws, stuffed fish, sea horses which I believe is an endangered species, turtle shells (yet another endangered species) and what not on display.

I suppose those were collected by tourists?

Cheers

Michael

[Tornado]

there is still a third left though

[Skipton]

From my experiences the third that is left will be in a poor or critical state. I remember my sadness at returning from a trip to Indonesia where sustainable reef management plans are in place in areas such as Sulawesi and then comparing the reef at Koh Samet and seeing masses of dead bleached, dynamited, algal infested coral. Reefs are indicators of the health of the ocean in particular coastal areas and the omens are far from good.

[Tornado]

From my experiences the third that is left will be in a poor or critical state. I remember my sadness at returning from a trip to Indonesia where sustainable reef management plans are in place in areas such as Sulawesi and then comparing the reef at Koh Samet and seeing masses of dead bleached, dynamited, algal infested coral. Reefs are indicators of the health of the ocean in particular coastal areas and the omens are far from good.

sorry I was being a little silly.

[damnaam]

It is clear that they provide only lip service to the issue or protecting the reef because they are vested in more divers with more gear. I can tell you that most of the Instructors don't even know how to control the buoyancy!

...complete rubbish! You must be able to control your buoyancy in order to pass the entry level Open Water course. As an Instructor you need to be able to control your buoyancy to the extent that you can control others buoyancy too, if need be, such as when somebody begins to make an out of control ascent or descends too fast.

Dive companies make money from selling diving but you're not going to sell much diving if the environment is in poor condition. There's not much the dive industry alone can do about coral bleaching but I can promise you that, at least on the boat I work on, we assess diver ability before letting them loose on a tricky and/or fragile environment. Those who are less experienced are generally dropped in where they can't do any damage, this doesn't lessen their enjoyment any since their limited experience means that a simpler dive is still relatively awesome and beautiful. This also means that they have more to discover as they gain more skills and experience

Don't forget also that many dive companies organise reef clean-up days too when, instead of earning money, they are looking after the environment

Peace.

[astral]

I cannot see too many tourists engaging in fishing activites that would damage the reef.

He can't really blame the tourists for global warming or polution.

Does Phuket have a sewage treament plant?

However it is easier to blame the tourists!!

[Tornado]

I cannot see too many tourists engaging in fishing activites that would damage the reef.

However it is easier to blame the tourists!!

Exactly!

[kasi]

It is clear that they provide only lip service to the issue or protecting the reef because they are vested in more divers with more gear.  I can tell you that most of the Instructors don't even know how to control the buoyancy! 

...complete rubbish! You must be able to control your buoyancy in order to pass the entry level Open Water course. As an Instructor you need to be able to control your buoyancy to the extent that you can control others buoyancy too, if need be, such as when somebody begins to make an out of control ascent or descends too fast.

Dive companies make money from selling diving but you're not going to sell much diving if the environment is in poor condition. There's not much the dive industry alone can do about coral bleaching but I can promise you that, at least on the boat I work on, we assess diver ability before letting them loose on a tricky and/or fragile environment. Those who are less experienced are generally dropped in where they can't do any damage, this doesn't lessen their enjoyment any since their limited experience means that a simpler dive is still relatively awesome and beautiful. This also means that they have more to discover as they gain more skills and experience

Don't forget also that many dive companies organise reef clean-up days too when, instead of earning money, they are looking after the environment

Peace.

I don't think the dive tourists contribute significantly to the damage going on.

The dive co I routinely dive with is very conciensious. They wont even alow you to wear gloves to keep you from touching things.

And thats right you won't pass the elementary open water course if you can't control yout buoyancy.