Reefs to Rice Paddies, Asian Tsunami Spared Nothing
Date: 20-Jun-05
Country: INDONESIA
Author: Dean Yates
Where there were once idyllic beaches, mangroves and settlements, there is now scoured earth. In many places salt water lies in once fertile rice fields now devoid of farmers.
Around the Indian Ocean rim, the tsunami caused widespread damage to the environment and experts say it will take years, if not generations, to recover. Even now, a full picture of the damage is only just emerging.
Coral reefs, mangroves, beaches, plantations and coastal farms have been damaged or destroyed in at least six nations.
North of Sumatra island, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands were particularly hard hit, the landscape twisted and tilted by the 9.15 magnitude quake that caused the tsunami.
The tectonic forces unleashed by the quake lifted northern parts of the island chain out of the sea, while much of the south sank. The giant waves after the quake were a cruel second blow.
Up to 60 square km (23 sq miles) of reef flats have been exposed and killed, said Harry Andrews of wildlife group Madras Crocodile Bank.
"In middle and north Andaman, the land has come up more than 1 metre, 1.2 metres (3.3 to four feet). The reefs are all dead, giant clams, eels, sea cucumbers, star fish, everything is dead."
Mangroves now stand out of the water. "Most of the mangroves are dying in north Andaman...but this regenerates," he said.
REEFS BURIED UNDER DEBRIS
In the southern Nicobars, much of the coral has been buried under debris and several beaches that were once the nesting sites of the endangered leatherback turtles have been destroyed, pushing the animal closer to extinction.
Andrews says the corals will start to regenerate in a couple of years but it will take much longer for the archipelago, one of richest for corals in the world, to achieve the same level of diversity they had before the tsunami.
In Thailand, the job of clearing rubbish and debris from prime reefs off Phi Phi, Similan and Surin islands -- ranked among the best dive spots in the world -- is nearly complete.
A government marine survey found only 13 percent of 174 sites had been severely affected.
"Those places that were badly hit will be closed for a few years and that will allow the coral to recover naturally," said Niphon Phongsuwan, a coral reef biologist at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre.
In a bid to ease stress on natural coral reefs, Niphon said a series of artificial reefs are being built along the Andaman Sea coast. The plan involves sinking concrete blocks into the seabed and transplanting coral salvaged from tsunami-hit reefs.
In the Maldives, too, coral reefs seemed to have suffered only minor damage, experts say. Pollution has emerged as the biggest threat to the chain of low-lying atolls.
The waves destroyed disposal sites and swept away rubbish, toxic chemicals and debris from wrecked buildings, scattering them across many islands. The government says 36 islands may have been hit by sewage contamination and clean-up will take years.
The giant waves also caused widespread damage to the coast and initial reports estimated more than 10 million square metres of beach on 130 islands have been eroded.
In neighbouring Sri Lanka, studies have revealed extensive damage to the coast and coral reefs. Trees were uprooted along the coast and some lush green areas have turned into moonscapes.
Water bodies and wells along parts of the Sri Lankan coast are also polluted either by sewage or salt water, or both, while disposing of all the debris from towns and villages flattened by the waves has proved to be a huge task.
IRREPARABLE DAMAGE
Experts in India say initial assessments have shown that salt water has polluted wells and damaged reefs, mangroves, coastal forests, beaches and sand dunes.
"The waves would have caused the most devastating and irreparable damage to the marine biodiversity of India," said K. Venkataraman of the state-run Zoological Survey of In
