PHUKET’S SURROUNDING WATERS ARE TEEMING WITH MARINE LIFE. VICTOR PAUL BORG DISCOVERS THE EFFORTS GOING INTO PROTECTING THESE HABITATS
THE PHUKET MARINE Biology Centre (PMBC) is abuzz with activity and expectation these days. PMBC officials and scientists exude quiet confidence: their counsel and research increasingly sets the environmental agenda, especially since everyone is now convinced that environmental preservation is vital to the all-important tourism industry, particularly along Thailand’s Andaman Coast.
The PMBC – which falls under the government’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources – has raised the tempo of its work: action plans to protect sea turtles and seagrass meadows have recently been launched, the work on the rehabilitation of degraded coral reefs is gaining momentum and the department has designated much of the remaining natural coastal regions as protected marine parks.
The good thing about the parks is that they are well looked after. Fishing or any taking of wildlife from national parks is illegal.
Outside marine parks, government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are also tackling the complex threats to coral reefs. These include natural phenomena – such as bleaching by cyclical rises in the water temperature and infestations by crown-of-thorns starfish that eat and destroy the live coral – as well as human meddling.
Illegal fishing boats, especially those that trawl within three kilometres of the shore, remain a problem. Enforcement has been stepped up recently, and illegal fishing has been virtually eliminated from Phang Nga Bay, but more remote areas are harder to police. Errant divers also damage corals by touching them, landing on them or kicking them with their fins, and touring boats can accidentally break coral with haphazard anchorage – a situation that is being improved by the placement of mooring buoys.
To rejuvenate dying coral reefs, the PMBC started experimenting with coral rehabilitation in 1994 at Maiton island, nine kilometres south-east of Phuket. Coral branches were grown in an underwater nursery and transplanted on the reef to kickstart the process.
The reefs successfully regained their former vigour and coral restoration has now been expanded to another five sites. These include Phi Phi Lae Island, where 1,200 fragments of staghorn coral were cultivated in an underwater nursery for nine months until their recent transplant onto reefs destroyed by the tsunami.
Coral rehab, while successful, comes with its challenges, which experts like Dr Nalinee Thongtham, head of the Marine and Coastal Biology and Ecology Unit at the PMBC, are working to overcome.
“A national plan is being drafted for coral rehabilitation throughout the country,” reveals Dr Thongtham. “Unfortunately, it takes 10 years before coral transplants spur the regrowth of healthy coral reefs.”
She adds: “It’s also a very labour-intensive and costly process, and the survival and growth of the transplants depend on other factors such as water current, murkiness, human activities and sedimentation. Due to these complications, coral rehabilitation is possible only in some areas.”
In this scenario, prevention is most definitely better than cure. “The best solution is to avoid degradation altogether in the first place,” says Dr Nalinee, who singles out sedimentation – caused by soil erosion during coastal construction – as one of the primary threats. As such, the PMBC is now encouraging developers to take measures to prevent soil erosion during building construction.
Seagrasses are also choked by sedimentation, and underwater seagrass meadows are an invaluable habitat for dugongs (for which seagrass is also a hearty meal) and other species that spawn in the meadows. There is good news though.
“The harm from sedimentation to seagrasses doesn’t appear to be permanent,” says Kanjana Adulyanukosol, head of the PMBC’s Marine Endangered Species Department. “The grasses do grow back after about 10 years, though sometimes the growThis uneven or patchy. Overall, the seagrass meadows are still fairly healthy; we launched the action plan for seagrasses now to prevent further deterioration. We want to raise certain issues – particularly the harm done by sedimentation, but also the use of push-nets – so that these problems are properly addressed. Local officials can follow the example of Trang province, where push-nets have been banned entirely.”
Push-nets are hand-held nets mounted on wide frames. They’re considered harmful as they scrape and uproot seagrasses when people drag them along the shore, particularly in shallow waters.
Trang, the province south of Krabi, has scored top marks in conservation and sustainable tourism. It’s an emerging tourist destination, with only a few dozen resorts – including one upscale hotel, the Amari Trang Beach Resort, which is flanked by miles of empty, seashell-littered beaches.
Trang remains gloriously wild, its coastline lined with mangrove forests and its islands graced by pristine reefs. Now, an ongoing project called the Masterplan for Sustainable Tourism in Trang (MSTT), in which the local and Swedish governments are cooperating, seeks to keep it that way. Planning measures have been set in motion, such as setting limits on the number of bungalows on each island and the mainland beaches; developing trekking and biking trails; dealing with waste in an eco-friendly manner; introducing green technology such as solar energy on islands; gradually upgrading bungalows to “eco-cocoons” (using local building materials, water-saving provisions, and so on); and many more ideas.
Five pilot projects in the locality, assisted by resorts and tour operators, are now implementing some of these measures. “We encourage the pilots to take concrete actions for environmental protection, promotion of the local culture, support of the local economy and to place value on visitor satisfaction,” affirms Tomas Gustaffson, project leader of MSTT. “And the pilots have now started to be models for others by their actions and achievements.”
Trang is also home to Thailand’s largest herd of dugongs, the herbivorous sea mammals that inspired the lore of mermaids.
These docile giants, which can weigh up to 300kg, spend much of their lives in shallow waters devouring grass (over 20kg daily), surfacing every five minutes to breathe. Their populations in South-East Asia have plunged by 90 percent since the 1970s, but the herd in Trang – which is estimated at 150 individuals – is one of the friskiest in the region.
“T e dugongs here in Trang are very productive,” says Kanjana. “We see a high percentage of calves every year, so the population in Trang could very well be increasing.”
Elsewhere along Thailand’s Andaman Coast, intensive fishing has reduced dugongs to small, fragmented communities. “I don’t think dugongs are hunted by fishermen,” Kanjana says. “Granted, fishermen might be tempted to take the head of stranded dugongs they might encounter as the tusk fetches 20,000 baht on the black market, but the main threat to dugongs is from net entanglement, which causes suffocation. However, we need more information to devise conservation measures as we don’t even have a clear picture of the dugongs’ movements. We don’t know where they forage.”
Accidental ensnarement in nets is a problem for another gentle creature – the sea turtle. The PMBC has drawn up an action plan designed to reverse the decline of the four species (the green, olive ridley, hawksbill and leatherback turtles) that live along Thailand’s Andaman Coast. The aim is to protect the turtles during their nesting period: green turtles, for example, lay eggs six times during their five-month nesting season.
“We have found that green turtles forage within six kilometres of the shore during nesting season,” Kanjana explains, “so we’re recommending that the ban on trawling be extended to that distance during the nesting season. We’re also asking beach resorts near where turtles nest to remove, or at least to dim, any lights placed on the beach. This is because the lights disorientate the turtles that come ashore to lay eggs; for example, in Karon beach in Phuket, we oft en find turtles stranded on the road near the shore.”
A high mortality rate does not help the situation either. Less than one percent of all eggs laid actually go on to become adult turtles, and the PMBC is currently considering whether to go ahead with a plan to improve the survival rate. The idea is to hatch eggs in captivity, then raise the turtles for a year before releasing them.
“We’re still debating the merits of this programme as there is some evidence that in practice this might not work as well as it sounds in theory,” says Kanjana.
The plight of turtles worldwide has made them a symbol of marine conservation, and releasing captive-raised turtles in the wild on Thailand’s Andaman Coast goes back a long way. Many resorts and communities organise turtle-releasing ceremonies in which Thais take part enthusiastically (they believe that releasing turtles bestows good luck and a long life).
There are, however, some doubts about the effectiveness of such turtle releases from a conservation viewpoint and the PMBC is trying to improve the manner in which this is carried out.
“We don’t want to see more hotels setting up turtle-releasing events,” says Kanjana. “And for the existing ceremonies, we want to improve the rate of success by, among other things, asking that the turtles are released when they are one year old, and that they are returned to the wild on the same beach where the eggs were laid in the first place.”
Another initiative by the PMBC is a programme called Green Fins. Dive operators are invited to become members and adhere to a code of conduct designed to prevent harm to coral reefs during diving excursions. Members are also expected to take part in occasional clean-ups, and log data about marine species and the state of reefs where they dive. Since its inception in 2004, about 106 diving centres have joined Green Fins.
“People should reward the diving centres who are members by diving with them,” says Niphon Phongsuwan, leader of Green Fins. “In that way, diving operator members can benefit from increased business and at the same time be proud of the fact that they are a positive force for marine conservation.”
ECO-TOURISM AT TAI MUEANG
The coral reef off the beach at Tai Mueang National Park, in Phang Nga province north of Phuket, is the largest in Thailand. Despite some damage to the reef from the tsunami and crown-of-thorn starfish, part of the waters have been open to snorkellers and divers.
The park has other attractions too: a golden casuarina tree-fringed beach almost 14km long, thick mangrove forests flanking the river, a walking trail, jeep trails, camping grounds and a pristine beach forest that is at its best in the rainy season (when it becomes a swamp filled with orchids and gnarled spindly trees).
Leatherback and Olive Ridley turtles nest at Tai Mueang, and visitors can join a warden scouting for nests during the nesting season (November to March).
Tai Mueang is about one hour’s drive north of Phuket. Contact Nakorn Amornwatpong (tel +66 (0)76 443440 or +66 (0)8 11710827, email nakorna@kiasia.org) to arrange homestays or transport from Phuket.
RESPONSIBLE RESORTS
THREE ECO-FRIENDLY HOTELS ON THE NETWORK
1 ALEENTA RESORT AND SPA (www.aleenta.com) in Phuket is an upscale boutique outfit that has won praise for its design: the grounds are a soothing mix of greenery and adjoining water features, and the spacious rooms are luxurious.
The resort has been raising funds for turtle protection (right) at Tai Mueang with a 40 baht contribution from each guest levied at checkout that is matched by the hotel.
More funds are also raised from the sale of turtle mementos and one-off events – this amounted to 800,000 baht last year, and Aleenta also pays the salary of one of the employees at Tai Mueang. The money does make a difference: for example, park officials pay any local person who discovers and guards a turtle nest the equivalent of 200 baht daily for the 60 days it takes for the eggs to hatch.
2 BANYAN TREE PHUKET (www.banyantree.com) also levies US$2 from every guest’s daily stay, and then matches it. This money has funded various conservation projects, including the Thai Navy’s efforts to protect nesting turtles on the Similan Islands. Like all other Banyan Tree properties, the resort also plants 2,000 trees every year across Phuket.
The construction of the hotel itself is a symbol of environmental renewal: it is situated in a former tin mine, a one-time contaminated wasteland that is now a lush sprawl of greenery and lagoons peppered with villas.
The villas are luxurious, with private pools and gardens (left). Recline at the Thai sala in your villa’s garden and be transported: trills of birdsong emanate from the trees that ensconce the impressive villas.
3 PIMALAI RESORT AND SPA (www.pimalai.com) proudly states that no trees were uprooted during its construction, and the resort has been sensitively blended into the beach forest at its Ba Kan Tiang beach location on Koh Lanta.
The property – which boasts upscale rooms near the beach, and Thai-style pool villas set on the slopes of the mountain behind (right) – has become something of a model in how to run a green resort. It is one of Thailand’s most eco-conscious properties: all rubbish is separated for recycling, a treatment plant treats waste water for re-use in irrigation, all detergents are bio-degradable, all lights are low-energy bulbs, and the units are built in a way that maximises shade from trees and natural ventilation, thus minimising the need for air-conditioning.
The management also fund nature camps for local school children and work with officials to develop environmentally sensitive scuba diving on offshore isles.
