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

[Todd Barber]

Steven,

You are absolutely right NGOs are not necessarily "better" (or worse) from
the actual doing perspective, I meant only to imply they are more
transparent (which you pointed out as important).  And when I said NGO I
probably should have defined that as Public Non-Profits (as opposed to
private NGOs) which is the case for the organization I represent as public
NGOs have fiduciary duties to transparency. .

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 11:51 AM Steven Miller <smiller52 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Todd
>
> NGOs are not necessarily better than private companies. That sounds right
> but is a fallacy. Transparency is paramount. So we mostly agree. My
> experience is that there is nothing about NGOs that makes them better
> suited to do the work. Indeed, they can be worse without oversight because
> they have few constraints. Accountability also matters.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Steven
>
> On Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 11:38 AM Todd Barber via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
>> 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
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/712+Portia+Street+North,+Nokomis,+FL+34275?entry=gmail&source=g>
>> 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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