Coral reefs face major threat from man, nature

By Illa Djamal

JAKARTA (Antara): Armed with a crowbar, the middle-aged man pried up and down and dug up chunks of coral growing in the coastal waters off the small island.

He took his booty to the beach and piled it up on a growing heap that was already covered a cubic meter. Most buyers were locals wanting the chunks for their houses' foundations.

Activity like this, a common sight in coastal residential areas across the country, is one of the many causes of the destruction of the country's coral reefs.

The undersea world where clusters of rocks the colors of the rainbow grow and diverse species of fish and other marine life spawn may soon be simply history unless action is taken immediately to ensure its conservation.

The state of the country's coral reefs is worsening as the damage, due either to natural phenomena like typhoons, storms, abnormal sea temperatures and coral eaters or to man's activities, is now occurring in many more areas than ever before.

A survey conducted by the National Institute of Science (LIPI) at 416 sites in 43 areas in Indonesia's territorial waters shows that only 6.49 percent of the coral in Indonesia is in a very good condition, 24.28 percent in a good condition, 28.61 percent in a moderate condition and 40.62 percent in a bad state.

According to LIPI expert Suharsono, the reefs in the west of the country are in the worst condition.

Coral reefs are formed by small rocks comprising thousands of individual rock polyps in a process lasting thousands of years. Looking strong, it actually breaks easily.

Coral reefs offer many benefits to man: high-protein food, medicine and building materials. To some, they are also a source of income. Moreover, coral reefs obviously protect the coast against breaking waves.

Human activities

According to LIPI's deputy chairman in charge of social sciences and humanities, Arjuno Brojonegoro, Indonesia's coral reefs total 75,000 square kilometers, an eighth of the world's total.

"Coral reefs are valuable assets which must be conserved in the interests of human beings in the future," he said.

Natural phenomena such as typhoons and storms lower the growth capacity of rocks, while abnormal sea temperature, brought about for example by the El Nino phenomenon in 1982-1983, not only turn coral white but also kill it off in the West Indo-Pacific and West Atlantic waters, Suharsono said.

A particular geological phenomenon that brings about tsunami, as happened in the seas off Flores and Banda, has also damaged coral reefs. In addition, sea porcupines or sea urchins, which feed on coral reefs, pose a threat to the sustainability of these reefs.

However, the greatest threat to the sustainability of coral reefs seems to come from humans. Although the damage caused by individual acts is usually minor, it has taken place and will continue over a long period of time so the impact will be very serious.

Threats to the sustainability of coral reefs are closely linked with population density in coastal areas and the presence of industrial centers in these areas.

Industrial waste, oil dumped by fishing vessels and household waste dumped by local people as well as other pollutants such as those one can see in the waters off the Seribu Islands have caused the coral reefs located close to coastal areas to become very vulnerable.

Monitoring conducted over 10 years shows that the household waste dumped into the waters off the Seribu Islands has increased almost tenfold in quantity. At the beginning of the survey, in 1985, most of the waste was organic in nature, in 1995, 90 percent of it was plastic.

Bombs and poison

The worst thing that can happen to coral reefs is the use of bombs and potassium in fishing because this technique also kills off small fish and destroys coral.

Observations made on the scene show that bombing has obviously been conducted in the waters round Puteri island, in the Thousand Islands chain, at a depth of between eight and 15 meters. As a result, the rainbow of coral has been destroyed and only white, hard rock remains. Only a small portion of the coral is still alive.

"If you use a bomb containing half a kilogram of explosives, coral within a radius of 3.5 meters will be totally destroyed and within a radius of six meters will be damaged. In such a situation 25 percent of the fish will be killed instantly, 30 percent will float and only 45 percent will be worth catching," according to Masyhuri, a LIPI researcher.

Coral reefs are not only damaged out of avarice or a desire to obtain as large a profit as possible. Poor fishermen in Tanjung, North Lombok, for example, collect coral and burn it to make lime. This is their only means of livelihood.

If marine biota becomes rare in the waters close to the coast, fishermen dependent on marine produce will simply go fishing further out to sea.

Habibi, a fisherman from Kelapa island in the Seribu Islands who works in a fishing vessel, said that every year he goes fishing out to sea twice, for four months each time. Sometimes he sails as far as the Philippines. He is paid Rp 400,000 (US$50) for one outing while on land he does earn so much as a cent.

This is the gloomy picture painted by fishing communities across Indonesia. Some of them realize that environmental conservation is important for the sake of the mankind's survival on Earth. Yet they have no other options.

Fishing nets

Coral reefs may also be damaged if people use nets, plaited rattan traps and seines when catching fish in reef areas.

Marine tourism also causes damage to coral reefs, especially when dive boats drop anchors on the coral or divers collect marine biota a souvenirs.

It is true that regulations and laws on the utilization and conservation of coral reefs have been enacted but the trouble is enforcement is still weak.

The government has created 25 marine conservation areas covering a total of 4 million hectares across Indonesia, six of which have been made into national parks.

The next step the government will take is to undertake a coral reef management and rehabilitation program in 10 provinces, namely East and West Nusa Tenggara, North, South and Southeast Sulawesi, North and West Sumatra, Riau, Maluku and Irian Jaya.

This program, according to Sugiarta Wirasantosa, a member of the preparatory team, is scheduled to take 15 years. It begins this month and will have three stages of implementation -- initiation, acceleration and internalization. The objective is to minimize damage to coral reefs and, if possible, revitalize the individual ecosystems.