Regionwide Cleanup and Restoration Needs
The immediate and long term recovery of many coastal communities hinges on being able to restore the coral reefs and marine resources on which they depended. The following key needs and requests for assistance have been identified to us by scientists in the affected area. We are currently working to assist them in meeting urgent and more mid- to long term needs that fall within our mission.
Urgent Needs Immediately Following the Tsunami
- Coral rehabilitation and recovery (for example, replacing broken seafans)
- Specific rehabilitation need: Snapper Alley, Thailand, where artificial reefs and a coral nursery unit may be necessary
- Scientifically trained and self-sufficient divers for assistance with additional monitoring, assessment, and management
- Supplies and equipment (for example, marine epoxy)
- Removal of debris from the reefs
- Funding to enable clean up, rehabilitation, assessment, and monitoring
- Funding to expand surveys of tsunami damage (at the moment we are working on reprogrammed funds for regular monitoring, which will only cover some sites. The area affected is huge and impact is patchy, so broad surveys are needed)
- Skilled and trained field staff who can contribute to the assessments (and potentially lead assessment teams in the affected areas), provided they are self-funded and/or sufficient funds are obtained to expand surveys
- Someone to lead and coordinate reef cleanups in Sri Lanka, starting in Marine Protected Areas, in collaboration with the relevant government agencies and the private sector
- Present a series of seminars among core researchers in the marine national parks on the current situation and include a code of practice for diving
Mid- to Longer-Term Needs
- Solicit help to formulate a suitable management strategy for marine national parks
- Develop appropriate management training courses for marine park officers
- Conduct long-term monitoring on the impacted as well as the unimpacted sites with basic research focusing on recruitment, reproductive seasons, genetic connectivity, and survival of fragmented habitats and damaged coral colonies
- Conduct intensive biodiversity surveys of the Similan Islands
- Develop dive site and tourist management programs
- Establish an education program for tourists and the diving business
- Install buoys
- Set up outdoor and indoor exhibitions on the two main islands which include leaflets, brochures, posters, videos, slide presentations, models, zoning maps, web sites, and more
Read about current activities and recent reports from the field for more information.
(Back to Report from Sri Lanka; back to Report from Thailand.)
