[Coral-List] Coral Reef Restoration??

[Tom Williams]

SO WHAT DO WE WANT TO DO ABOUT IT??

We have seen the same in the Caribbean/Belize, GulfofMex, Maldive, DiegoGarcia, Andamans, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Saudi, and UAE...destroy 1M sqm and restore 5000sqm.  Infamous quote from Sultan bin Sulayeum, CEO of Duabi World, "Palm Jumeirah will not kill one coral." He was right only destroyed about 1M sq m of patch reefs upto ha in size by direct filling and plumes of 7km...then there was the "protected Jebel Ali Marine Sanctuary" - TOTAL Loss...we could put in reef balls local concrete cribs...but nothing would replace the reefs destroyed.


We all have our "reefs of horror" but what is done - being done...not much.

Tom Williams


--- On Mon, 5/19/08, William Allison <allison.billiam at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: William Allison <allison.billiam at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral Reef Restoration??
> To: "Don Baker" <reefpeace at yahoo.com>, Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Date: Monday, May 19, 2008, 10:55 AM
> Consistent with your view, in Maldives, an arm of the World
> Bank has funded
> training in artificial reefs for conservation which in
> conjunction with
> several competing approaches has spawned an industry.
> Increasing numbers of
> resorts are using them for landscape and PR-conservation
> purposes while
> neglecting fundamental problems contributing to the decline
> of their reefs,
> including inadequate septic systems on both inhabited and
> some resort
> islands, and dredge and fill operations, at least one of
> which was conducted
> by some of the folks that brought us the Gulf environmental
> catastrophes.
> 
> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 4:57 AM, Don Baker
> <reefpeace at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Greetings Coral List Members.....
> >
> > "Knowing is Power......Understanding is
> Wisdom"
> >
> > I have only just begun to 'digest' this issue
> as discussed with your well
> > appreciated comments and references for the past month
> or so.  Please give
> > me a moment.
> >
> > In our 21st century, we are faced with a panacea of
> coral reef ecosystem
> > 'restoration' endeavors that may be portrayed
> and expounded upon by a myriad
> > of quasi-institutional / governmental entities seeking
> various innovative
> > ways & means to justify human based agendas that
> are limited and blatantly
> > selfish to serve the greed of Big Business and
> ultimately - economic, social
> > and a ethical power over the ignorant masses.  We have
> seen this syndrome
> > with the prawn farm issue throughout South East Asia.
> >
> > Why should we allow the same to be applied to our
> precious and fragile
> > coral reefs for that sake of diving quotas, jetski
> treks, and a cool 'Rum &
> > Coke' while sitting in a 'water village'
> chalet & dive resort that proclaims
> > 'Reef Restoration' while its septic tanks
> drain onto the white sandy beaches
> > and into the ecosystems that justifies their very
> existence in the first
> > place?
> >
> > I am not some "Greener!"  We can have the
> septic tanks but we have to have
> > the correct way to dispose of the waste.  Am I missing
> the point and going
> > off on some tangent?  Nope!   It all boils down to
> "Using" the quasi,
> > elusive concept of 'coral reef restoration' 
> to inspire quasi-
> > institutional/Gov entites to get the $$ to 'give
> it a go!'   Well.....Let
> > this inspire further discourse within.
> >
> > Am I just bantering and pointing fingers?  Not at all.
>  Let us all work
> > together herein to address a "real &
> present" restoration agenda.....that
> > could very well be but to give the reef a
> 'break' and see how they can
> > 'repair' themselves...if at all.
> >
> > Regards from the Southeast Coast of Guam...(
> > http://www.jeffspiratescove.com/index.htm) & (
> > http://coral.jeffspiratescove.com/)
> >
> > Don Baker
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Alternate Email: donbjr95 at hotmail.com
> >
> > "Dedication and motivated direction in achieving
> specific goals related to
> > the care and protection of living things is not
> necessarily a guaranteed
> > formula for success.  Success is, more often than not,
> a direct result of a
> > person's passion in addition to the above
> formula." [Don Baker, Marine
> > Conservationist/Activist, 1998]
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
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