Bleached coral reefs to heal by 2022

Bleached coral reefs to heal by 2022

Marine tourism quota called for in Andaman

This bleached and apparently dead coral in and around Mu Koh Surin Marine Park off Phang Nga is recovering and will be flourishing again by 2022. (Photo courtesy Singha Estate)
This bleached and apparently dead coral in and around Mu Koh Surin Marine Park off Phang Nga is recovering and will be flourishing again by 2022. (Photo courtesy Singha Estate)

Severely bleached coral reefs in Phang Nga will recover by 2022, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said Wednesday.

Once prized as the most pristine reefs in the Andaman, some in Mu Koh Surin Marine National Park have been badly damaged but can bounce back quickly, officials said.

Bleaching occurs when algae inside the tissue of the coral dies, usually as a result of changing water temperatures.

Niphon Phongsuwan, a marine expert at the department, said his team conducted a survey of coral bleaching at marine national parks in the Andaman Sea early this year.

He said 80% of the coral that was hit in 2010 was recovering faster than expected.

"If there is no threat from rising sea water temperatures or excessive man-made disturbances, I'm confident the coral reefs in Mu Koh Surin will make a full recovery within four years," he said.

But some of the reefs on the other side of the island, closer to the mainland, had only made a 30% recovery, he added.

Meanwhile, the slow speed of recovery recorded at coral reefs on the more famous island of Koh Kai in another national park is troubling conservationists as the authorities have not restricted human activity there.

Tourists are still heading to Koh Kai Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park in droves. Around 1.4 million visit the small island each year.

To accelerate the rate of recovery the department said it needed to plant living coral among the dead parts of the reef.

Thailand suffered extensive coral bleaching in 2010, especially on the west-facing Andaman side that includes Phuket, Ko Phi Phi and the Similan Islands. Experts say up to 90% of the coral reef population there went white due to rising sea climes.

Even though some of the reefs are expected to make a recovery they are unlikely to ever be restored their former beauty in full, according to Thorn Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of the fisheries faculty at Kasetsart University.

He said other measures must be taken to protect the reefs, such as reducing wastewater, cutting garbage and containing tourism activity.

Mr Thorn, a member of the National Reform Committee, said plans are afoot to impose a quota of 6 million people a year so as to limit maritime resources' exposure.

Some 5 million tourists visit the Andaman stretch of Thailand's western coast every year, statistics show.

Back in 2010, the department ordered the temporary closure of 18 sites affected by coral bleaching at seven marine national parks. It was the worst case ever recorded in Thailand, which experts linked to a 2-degree-Celsius rise in sea temperatures.

More cases of coral bleaching were reported in 1991 and 1995 in the Andaman, and in 1998 in the Gulf of Thailand.

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