Copying nature in Thailand, one artificial reef at a time
Agence France Presse, 6 April 2005 - Every day for weeks, American
John Walch has made quirky cement balls he is convinced will sprout
to life once when they are dumped this month into Thailand's coastal
waters.
The project is not pollution, it's a form of environmental
protection, rehabilitation and, ultimately preservation of part of
Thailand's spectacular natural heritage that was bruised in the
December 26 tsunami.
Thailand's lush marine paradise lures millions of tourists
annually with its gorgeous coral treasures, but it's aiming to
improve on nature's bounty by planting artificial reefs along the
Andaman coast.
The kingdom's coral has earned global renown, but as tourism has
boomed in recent years, the natural reefs are under threat as many
visitors take advantage of Thailand's cheap and easy access to
world-class dive sites.
"There is too much diving, the number of people visiting each
particular dive site has exceeded the limit," conservationist Phitul
Panchaiyaphum of the department of marine and coastal resources
explained on a boat to Raja island off the southern tip of
Phuket.
In addition to pollution such as plastic bags and fishing lines
and nets, reefs have suffered from dive boats dropping anchor
directly onto sensitive coral areas, he said. Divers themselves
sometimes touch, break off or step on the reefs.
"We need to create more diving destinations," he told reporters.
"We are installing artificial reefs -- concrete cubes or balls where
fish will reside and coral can grow."
Enter Walch and his non-profit Reef Ball Foundation. The group
has put half a million of the cement structures into the sea in 50
countries.
At the request of a resort hotel under construction on Raja
island, Reef Ball began preparing a Thai project in September. Three
months later disaster struck, with the tsunami barreling into the
coast.
A January assessment of the region's coral found 13 percent of
reefs showed "high impact" from the waves -- either broken or
upturned coral, reefs smothered by sand, or damaged by debris swept
into the sea by the huge waves.
"We're all here to help this bay recover after the tsunami,"
Walch, 56, said alongside a cement mixer set up at the site of the
future hotel dominating Raja's beach.
Over the next month Walch and his team of international
volunteers plan to place 300 reefballs in the bay, creating five new
reefs and one snorkel trail to sit alongside the bay's lone natural
reef.
"It will provide new reefs for the increased number of tourists
coming into this bay," he said, nodding at the handful of visitors
snorkeling out in the bay's turquoise waters.
"You only have so many natural reefs to go to. This will help
lessen the pressure by giving alternatives."
Similar artificial reefs are planned for Kata, Patong and Kamala
bays on Phuket, and on the island of Phi Phi, famed for its coral
formations.
The projects have the backing of the prime minister's office, the
Tourism Authority of Thailand and the ministry of environment, all
of which are eager to find ways to ease mounting pressure on the
kingdom's ecosystem.
Though they look crude to they eye, the meter-wide reef balls,
patented by the foundation, are actually quite technical. They are
designed so that when water passes through its many holes, a vortex
is created that pushes the ball down, ensuring stability.
Four reef balls had already been set in place in the bay as a
demonstration before the tsunami. All of them stayed put.
The balls, Walch said, are quick to become hosts of flourishing
coral systems, with fish claiming them as their new homes barely a
quarter hour after its placement on the sea floor.
"Within three years, reef balls have 75 percent of the marine
organisms that inhabit a normal reef," he said. Pieces of coral
broken off by the tsunami that would die if left unattended are
attached to the balls where they grow anew.
Not everyone is a reef ball fan, though, with some wondering if
overextension of the projects will backfire with tourists who come
to Thailand for the genuine article.
"This is a way to decrease pressure on coral reefs ... but I
don't see the point of reef balls in the natural reef," said Niphon
Phongsuwan, a senior biologist at the department of marine and
coastal resources, who put the number of divers and snorkelers
visiting Phuket at about 100,000 per year.
"For the first 10 years they might look ugly."
Walch, who has worked on artificial reefs for three decades, said
they'll look splendid after only a few years, but conceded the true
treasures of the sea belonged to nature.
"We can never replace what mother nature has done," he said, "but
we can try and replicate it as good as we can."
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Agence France Presse |
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06.04.2005 |
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Cement Ecosystems Innovation
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Asia
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Thailand
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Agence France Presse
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