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

[Todd Barber]

Hi Sebastian,

I am not suggesting that building the airport over coral is a good
idea.....all other alternatives should always be considered.  However in
the case that coral relocation is chosen, there are ways of achieving at
least mitigation of the loss using a combination of coral rescue, coral
propagation, genetic rescue, and habitat reconstruction.  We have done this
successfully many times in many countries although you won't find much
scientific work on projects like these because they are almost always
conducted under non-disclosure agreements as is typical for most mitigation
projects.

I can tell you that because they are usually under NDAs, the quality of the
work (and restoration results) are highly variable and often substandard.
If they do choose mitigation, your community would be well suited to make
SURE they use reputable and transparent folks to perform the mitigation.
Because a good restoration is multi-goaled, it normally requires
partnerships with multiple organizations to achieve good results.  NGOs
(that are typically required to be transparent) with university oversight
partners (that are rigorous in evaluating goal achievements) are much
better suited than private firms that are tied to engineering or
development of the project.


I hope that helps in your approach.

Thanks,

Todd R Barber
Chairman, Reef Ball Foundation
712 Portia Street North, Nokomis, FL 34275
941-720-7549 (Cell & Google Voice)
www.reefballfoundation.org
www.reefbeach.com (Reefs for Beach Erosion)
Reef Ball World Mapping System
<https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KrENaH-kJn_LCDrzCbgtW_1aW-ciY-M&usp=sharing>


On Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 4:14 AM Sebastian Szereday via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> 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
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