[Coral-List] Request for input on coral relocation studies

[Sebastian Szereday]

Dear Coral List,



For many years a new airport in Tioman Island (Malaysia) has been in the
discussion and planning. The proposed runway would result in significant
damage to the adjacent coral reefs, as the runway construction would
require substantial land reclamation and it would be built on top of an
existing coral reef. The airport would also negatively impact the
livelihood of the local communities and result in many further
socio-economic and sustainability challenges - all in all it is safe to say
that the airport does not benefit the people nor the environment.



Last week, the EIA report was released for public review, and members of
the public are invited to give feedback on the proposed project and
mitigation measures. One such measure is to (quote) ‘relocate and
rehabilitate the corals’. This is of course by no means a viable option,
and the EIA has not gone to lengths to identify suitable sites based on
common site selection criteria.



I was hoping that members of this list could point out specific case
studies that detail the efficacy of relocating coral colonies to mitigate
the impacts of large infra-structure construction projects. Although my
organisation is not involved in the direct opposition of the project,
summarizing existing studies would help to put together a 1-2 pager for
further circulation with the media, stakeholders, and the public, to
ultimately provide a summary of existing studies and data.



Any input would be much appreciated. There is also a petition circulating
against the proposed airport, please do sign and share:


Petition · Reject the Proposed Tioman Airport · Change.org
<https://www.change.org/p/tioman-villagers-reject-the-proposed-tioman-airport>



Best wishes,

Sebastian