Tsunami damaged reefs will recover
Posted: 01 March 2006
 Send this news
Most coral reefs escaped serious damage from the 2004 tsunami and should recover in less than 10 years, though much will depend on governments protecting marine ecosystems, according to a new report.
Compiled by Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, it found that reefs in Indonesia , Sri Lanka , India and Thailand were hardest hit, with damage reaching up to 30 per cent in some places. Lke earlier studies, it found human activity like illegal fishing and climate change pose the greatest risk to the future of the reefs.
"The tsunami caused some localised damage, but ongoing human stresses pose a far greater threat to the survival of Indian Ocean coral reefs and mangrove forests," the report found, adding "stronger conservation and protection of coral reefs and other coastal resources" is needed to enhance their resistance to future disasters.
The December 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami devastated mostly rural, coastal communities in 12 countries, leaving at least 216,000 people dead or missing and more than a million homeless.
The hardest hit animals were turtles, which lost nesting sites in Thailand and India 's Andaman and Nicobar islands , said Clive Wilkinson, the report's lead author.
Posted by Editor Offshore Arabia Magazine
Information supplied by companies or PR agencies who are responsible for content. Send press releases to info@reflexpublishingme.com |
