Tsunami: Coral reefs recovering

Indonesia's coral reefs a recovering with surprising speed four years after the deadly tsunami hit, restoring livelihoods to countless small communities, according to a study.

Indonesia s coral reefs are recovering with surprising speed from the 2004 tsunami Indonesia's coral reefs are recovering with surprising speed from the 2004 tsunami

Scientists previously believed it would take a decade for Southeast Asia's tsunami-ravaged reefs to heal.

The findings came as communities across the Indian Ocean remembered the disaster that struck on December 26 2004, with prayers, songs and tears.

About 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered the tsunami.

Surveys of coral reefs after the tsunami showed up to one-third were damaged and experts predicted it would take a decade for them to fully recover.

Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, working with the Indonesian government and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said their examination of 60 sites on 497 miles of coastline along Indonesia's Aceh province showed the reefs were bouncing back.

"On the fourth anniversary of the tsunami, this is a great story of ecosystem resilience and recovery," said Stuart Campbell, coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesia Marine Programme.

"Our scientific monitoring is showing rapid growth of young corals in areas where the tsunami caused damage, and also the return of new generations of corals in areas previously damaged by destructive fishing," Campbell said in a statement. "These findings provide new insights into coral recovery processes that can help us manage coral reefs in the face of climate change."

Healthy coral reefs are economic engines for Acehnese communities in Indonesia, Campbell added, supplying fish to eat and sell as well as tourism dollars from leisure diving.

The tsunami decimated coastlines across the Indian Ocean, wiping out villages, killing entire families and crippling the economies in parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Comments Unavailable

Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?