• Struggling for survival
• 'Washed up' fishermen turn carpenter and build their own boats
• 'Tsunami village' rises from rubble
• Inspired by Church aid, sea gypsies turn to Christ
• Foreign aid crucial
• Body ID center looks future
• Shoddy housing doesn't make a home
• Outside volunteer carves new career in housing
• Counting the costs to the environment
• Underwater tourist trails
• Turtle hatchery at risk after waves
• Where the money went
• Covered for everything but the wave
• Corporations learn that caring counts
• Starting again from scratch
• Swedish survivor gains perspective after wave 'turned my life upside-down'
• Reasons to smile
• Justice will prevail, investor believes
• Courage and resilience ease personal pain
• Help wanted
• Second chance to get it right
• Tide turns on tourist demographics in Khao Lak
• Light on the horizon
• One day at a time
• Widows and orphans left out in the cold
• Art for the heart

HOPE

Counting the costs to the ENVIRONMENT

The giant waves which struck the Andaman coastline a year ago today caused much less damage to the area's rich marine ecosystem than many had at first feared.
Nature is capable of healing itself and has taught us a very important lesson - but have we really learned?

Grisly quest Relatives comb hospitals and make-shift morgues to find their loved ones. This photo shows a tired couple taking a rest after a long, fruitless search.

A few days after the tsunami struck the west coast of peninsular Thailand, a very important project started in the Andaman Sea.

It was a joint effort by biologists and science students from several universities, together with experts from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and more than 120 volunteer divers, who came together to conduct a scientific assessment of the impact that the great waves had on the Andaman's marine ecosystem.

To everybody's surprise, the results of their extensive surveys - which took place from Dec 30, 2004 to Jan 15, 2005 and covered representative marine and coastal sites in all the six Andaman provinces - revealed that the deadly tsunami which had caused tremendous loss of human lives and properties had not been that cruel to the natural environment.

In fact, it even brought along positive changes. After the tsunami, some beaches suffered erosion by the big waves, but many others were replenished with cleaner and finer sand from the deeper sea.

''Coral transplant'' is a method of giving broken pieces of coral a chance to live on.

Seagrass beds provide shelter to a variety of animals, from small invertebrates to large, and endangered marine mammals like the dugong. The tsunami also revealed that these marine grasses offered great protection to the sea bottom on which they grow.

More than that, compared with pre-tsunami data, the quality of coastal water at many sites - judging from factors such as salinity, pH level, the amounts of dissolved oxygen and nutrients as well as bacterial contamination, among others - was remarkably improved.

Of course, damage did occur. But follow-up studies over the past months confirmed that Mother Nature has the ability to heal her own wounds.

According to the findings of the tsunami impact assessment teams, damage to the coral reefs was limited to only a small numbers of areas.

''Of the 174 study sites which represented the principal coral reef areas in the Andaman, 69 sites were completely untouched and only 23 suffered severe damage from the tsunami,'' said Nalinee Thongtham, a scientist at Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), explaining that the word ''severe'' was used to describe damage that occurred to more than 50% of a reef site. The PMBC is part of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, which represented the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in the post-tsunami studies.

According to Nalinee, types of damages to the corals, depending on the depth and characteristics of the sea bottom, ranged from broken branches and overturned colonies to colonies being smothered in sand. ''But debris - bottles,furniture and all kinds of things that were washed down from the land and ended up in the reefs - was the biggest problem,'' she said.

Such garbage needed to be cleared off from the reefs as soon as possible because, apart from being unsightly, they also caused further damage. Constantly rocked by the currents, these hard objects tend to hit and break the fragile corals around them.

Many groups of divers have volunteered for the task and so far virtually all reef sites, except for a few around the Phi Phi Islands which were heavily populated, have been cleared of these foreign objects.

Some of the overturned coral colonies, continued Nalinee, have been put back in place and many of them are showing promising signs of recovery. Colonies that did not survive, including those that had been buried under sand but are now exposed as the sand was removed by strong currents during the last monsoon season, serve as substrates for a new generation of corals that will eventually take over.

Scientists stick a radio transmitter on the back of a leatherback turtle which came ashore to nest a few days after the tsunami.

After the tsunami, fishermen had their wrecked boats repaired, returned to the sea and found that it's still the same.

As for the broken corals, staghorn corals in particular, most of the pieces that broke off from the main structure did not survive because the water currents keep moving them around on the sea floor. However, according to Niphon Phongsuwan, another marine biologist at the PMBC, more than a thousand healthy pieces were saved with a method called ''coral transplant'', in which selected pieces of broken corals were fixed on stable concrete blocks and placed in areas where water depth and other conditions are right for the corals to survive.

This rescue mission also serves as an experiment. Some of the transplanted corals were placed in shallow water where the pieces had been found while the rest were relocated to deeper areas about eight to 10 metres below the surface.

''In the first group, about half of them did not make it. But in the latter group, almost all survived,'' said the biologist.

Niphon said the tsunami reminded him of a big storm which hit the Andaman in 1986.

''Not many people remember that storm because it didn't affect people on the coast so much. But it did wreak havoc on a number of coral reefs the way the tsunami did,'' he said, adding that he has been studying several of those sites ever since and found that reefs severely damaged by the storm - those south of Phuket, for example - started to recuperate the second year after the storm and were back in good shape within five to six years.

And when the corals recovered, fish and other reef dwellers made a comeback too.

Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist at Kasetsart University, points out that the genuine threat to coral reefs is not a tsunami or a storm but humans.

The overall extent of the damage to the coral reefs, home to hundreds of marine species, was much less than had been feared.

''Tourism-related activities - waste from tour boats, sediment kicked up by divers' fins or fins directly hitting and breaking the corals, to name but a few - have always been major causes of damage to Thailand's coral reefs,'' he explained. ''After the tsunami, several measures have been taken in an attempt to make sure that tourism and the marine ecosystem coexist in a sustainable fashion,'' he said, adding that such measures include, for example, seeking cooperation from tour operators, installing buoys so that boats do not have to drop anchors on the corals and closure of some affected dive sites to allow the reefs to recover without human interference.

''Another important thing is to reduce the loads of tourists on the coral reefs,'' said Dr Thon, revealing that the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is joining hands with marine biologists from Kasetsart, Ramkhamhaeng and Prince of Songkhla universities in a project to create artificial underwater attractions to draw some of the tourist crowds away from the coral reefs (For details, read ''Underwater Tourist Trails'', Page 7).

Also crucial to the long-term survival of the coral reefs, added Dr Thon, is public understanding of the importance of the reefs and the rest of the ecosystem.

These are part of the large group of dugongs found around Talibong Island, Trang province, during one of the aerial surveys. This photo shows 15 dugongs, three of which are young ones.

With the dense mangrove trees absorbing the force of the water, the tsunami arrived at communities in the mangroves as an usually high tide instead of destructive giant waves.

Another type of marine habitat included in the post-tsunami study was the seagrass beds which are homes to many marine species, including the endangered dugong. The results were even more astonishing than in the case of coral reefs. Damage from the giant waves to these seemingly flimsy marine plants was minimal.

''From our survey which covered from Ranong, Phangnga, Krabi and all the way down to Trang, we found that only 5% of seagrass areas were affected by the tsunami,'' said Sombat Poovachiranon, a PMBC marine biologist specialising in seagrass.

''And of that 5%, only 1.5% was badly damaged.''

Effects on the seagrass, said Sombat, range from scratches on the leaves and the accumulation of sediment on the leaves to the grass being buried under sand.

''Leaves heavily abraded by the sand turned brown and died. But the grass soon sprouted new leaves. Buried grass cannot obtain sunlight so the leaves wilted and died. However, the roots and rhizomes are still fine, ready to spring back to life any time the sand is swept away by the currents,'' he explained.

Casuarina and other trees of the beach forests at Laem Son, Ranong province, acted as wave breakers during the tsunami. New trees are planted to serve as protection against future wave attacks.

The resilience of the seagrass is one thing. Another important finding by Sombat and his research team was that these humble marine plants, thanks to their extensive root networks, offered substantial protection to the sea bottom.

''Sand dunes in non-seagrass areas were severely affected by the waves. But dunes covered with seagrass were unchanged, except on the fringe of the seagrass bed,'' Sombat said.

The dugong (or sea cow) relies on the seagrass - its main food - for survival. Another research team led by Kanjana Adulyanukosol, who has been studying the species for many years, found that the tsunami had no evident effect on the population of the endangered marine mammals.

''Two days after the tsunami, a dugong was found stranded in Thap Lamu, Phangnga province. It was rescued and released back into the sea. However, it was found dead weeks later. Then on Jan 12, we were informed that a dugong was sighted near a pier in Phangnga. Our team rushed to the site but couldn't find the animal, just the -fresh feeding trail it had left behind,'' said Kanjana. ''Other than these two cases, the others look fine.''

During the many aerial surveys done after the tsunami, Kanjana found that with their habitat, the seagrass beds, pretty much intact, it is business as usual for the dugong.

''They're still feeding here and there in groups. The highest number I spotted in a day was 126 animals,'' she said, adding that 17 of them were calves.

Other than the dugongs, Kanjana's team also studies other endangered species such as dolphins and marine turtles. She said that after the tsunami three dolphins and at least 36 sea turtles were found swept ashore. They were rescued and put back into the sea. Turtles with fractured shells were given necessary treatment before being released.

''Apart from those cases the situation of the turtles and dolphins is no different from before the tsunami,'' said the researcher, adding that she and her team still found these endangered animals in areas they had been known to frequent.

''Not long after the tsunami, there were three sightings of the leatherback turtle laying eggs on Mai Khao beach in Phuket [Jan 7], Thai Muang Beach in Phangnga [Jan 13] and Nai Han Beach in Phuket [Jan 22],'' she said.

There has been no prominent study on the impact of the tsunami on smaller sea animals such as shrimps and crabs, but, according to small-scale fishermen, one thing is for sure: the big waves had no adverse effect on the size of their catch.

Among those interviewed by the Bangkok Post was Arkom Suathae, a local of Koh Phayam, one of Ranong's larger islands. Arkom said that this year he and fellow Koh Phayam fishermen have been enjoying bigger catches.

''The first couple of months after the tsunami, there was nothing special. But since March, the coastal waters within three to four kilometres continued on 6-spill in homewave

from the shore seem to be substantially richer,'' he said.

''The amount of crabs we caught is similar to last year. But this year we've hauled more shrimps, more squids and more jellyfish.''

Arkom said he didn't think the tsunami had anything to do with the increase in marine animals around Koh Phayam. ''I believe it's a cycle of the sea. Every few years there would be a great time like this,'' he said.

Meanwhile, at Ban Bangchan in Phangnga province, Riang Kliangklom said he and other small-scale fishermen in the area have not been as lucky.

''Here, things are basically the same. There're days when we get a big catch. And there're also days when we get nothing,'' he said. ''It's no different from before the tsunami.''

On land, mangrove and beach forests survived the tsunami with relative ease. Ranong was one of the worst hit provinces considering losses in human lives and properties, but the mangrove and casuarina trees along the shoreline didn't suffer much.

Cheewapap Cheewatham, who was the superintendent of Laem Son-Bang Baen Marine National Park before and during the tsunami, said that had it not been for those trees which greatly lessened the force of the giant waves the situation on the coast of Ranong could have been worse.

''People now realise the importance of these natural habitats as an effective wave breaker,'' said Cheewapap, who since last month has been in charge of Khao Lak-Khao Lamlu Marine National Park in Phangnga province.

''After the tsunami, a number of agencies, both governmental and private, have been working together not just to replace fallen trees with new ones but also to increase areas of mangrove and beach forests as a protection against future tsunami,'' he said.

Overall, the tsunami caused much less damage to the environment than it did to human beings. Nature is capable of fixing the damage inflicted by the giant waves. However, destruction of the environment by people is harder to heal and never seems to stop. It is evident that encroachment of coastal areas and islands was a major reason for the unprecedented scale of tsunami casualties. Nature has taught us a tremendous lesson. But have we really learned?

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