#Status of Coral Reefs 2002 - International Coral Reef Action Network

Status of Coral Reefs in South Asia
THE MARINE PROTECTED AREAS PROJECT – THE MALDIVES
The Maldives Protected Area project has been funded by AusAID (Australian aid
agency) to contribute to the protection of ecological resources in the Maldives, and
thereby supporting long-term ecological sustainable development and biodiversity
maintenance. The project began in 1997 and is focused on establishing a system of
protected areas by first establishing pilot or prototype sites. The aim is to use the pilot
sites to illustrate the constraints for the establishment of a national system and suggest
remedial methods. The first pilot site on the island of Hithadhoo in Addu Atoll, is
representative of many of the biological, cultural, community and institutional issues
that face the Government of the Maldives and many other small island developing
nations. After site selection, the project undertakes biological and socio-economic
surveys as well as establishing the potential boundaries and management options. It
also conducts a community participation program, instigates an educational program,
and transfers the skills to national counterparts. Recommendations arising from the
establishment of the pilot sites focused on changes to legislation and institutional
arrangements, community awareness systems and the level of assessment and
monitoring required for the site as well as the type of management plan that could be
adopted. Contact: Geoff Dews, AusAID MPAs Office, dews@ozemail.com.au
282km 2 ; Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve - 885km 2 ; and Rani Jhansi Marine National
Park 256 km 2 (Richies Archipelogo). All MPAs suffer from encroachment by coastal
populations with destructive activities and loss of resources, although the more remote
MPAs on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in the Lakshadweeps are better protected.
Resources, both human and logistic, for management and enforcement are inadequate.
Virtually all the MPAs in the Maldives are small and associated with tourist locations;
hence the management is provided by the tourist operators, with little involvement of the
government. This management focuses on large fishes and associated fauna. The 2 MPAs
with coral reefs in Sri Lanka have adequate management plans and protective legislation,
however, there is no effective management and the boundaries are ignored by local
communities.
Many more sites are under consideration for management, often through the assistance of
external project activities, but greater government commitment towards conservation is
essential for success. The one coral reef area in Bangladesh continues to decline in status.
India had no coral reef monitoring prior to 1998 due to a major lack of equipment and
trained scuba divers, and also to a lack of government and community support. Since
then, Coral Reef Monitoring Action Plans (CRMAPs) have been prepared for all areas, and
programs are in progress to train people to monitor the reefs. Progress, however, is slow.
Several Indian scientists were given scuba and coral taxonomy training in Australia
through the GCRMN, and a Handbook of Corals of India is being prepared. The Zoological
Society of India started a 3-year ecological monitoring program in the Gulf of Mannar to
provide ground truthing of maps being constructed by the Space Application Centre,
Ahmedabad. These activities are linked into the Global Environment Facility project on
the Biodiversity of Gulf of Mannar.
113