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Coral reefs recover from tsunami damage

— Photo: AP

Divers transplant corals at a spot damaged by 2004’s earthquake and tsunami, off Weh island, in Aceh province, Indonesia, in June.

Bangkok: Indonesia’s coral reefs damaged by the 2004 tsunami are recovering rapidly, helped by natural colonisation and a drop in illegal fishing, scientists said today.

Surveys taken after the December 26, 2004 disaster showed up to a third of reefs were damaged and experts predicted it would take a decade for full recovery. Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said their examination of 60 sites on 800 km of coastline along Indonesia’s Aceh province showed the reefs were bouncing back.

“On the 4th anniversary of the tsunami, this is a great story of ecosystem resilience and recovery,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell, coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia Marine Program.

“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,” he 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.” A massive earthquake off Sumatra in December 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed more than 2,30,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline — more than half in Indonesia. Reef studies after the disaster found up to 30 per cent of reefs were damaged in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. The study predicted they would recover in 10 years, but much depended on efforts to control illegal fishing, pollution and coastal development. —AP

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