News Forum - Phuket conservationists butt heads with locals on coral reef

[Thaiger]

Conservationists are fighting to stop a bay being dredged in Ao Kung in Pa Khlok, on Phuket’s east coast, as they say it will damage nearby coral reefs. A former village headman says the bay needs to be dredged because fishing boats have a hard time getting to the port at low tide. At a meeting with representatives of local government offices, and about 180 local residents, the majority voted to dredge the bay. But yesterday, the leader of the Baan Ao Kung Mangrove Forest Conservation Group said the meeting was “truly unfair to stakeholders.” Yesterday, the leader submitted an […]

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[Noble_Design]

There's only one way to settle this, winner takes all:

[Cabra]

I for one you love to see Thailand do more to preserve the natural beauty of this place. Maybe even do more to promote eco-tourism as Costa Rica has done.

 

[Jason]

Perhaps rather than dredging a channel, build a jetty for the boats to unload at low tide. Less of a footprint on the coral. Attention should also be paid to longtail boat operators, who encourage tourists to feed bread to the fish. They can't digest it. It eventually kills them and stops them from feeding on their natural food source, the corals, which in turns helps the coral to propagate. Feeding bread is done to bring the coral fish close for snorkellers, to see them. I hope after two years of no tourists, thee corals have had a chance to regrow and the fish to multiply.

[Benroon]

23 hours ago, Cabra said:

I for one you love to see Thailand do more to preserve the natural beauty of this place. Maybe even do more to promote eco-tourism as Costa Rica has done.

Maybe put an extra baht on areas of beauty entrance fees - that usually goes down well with forum expats 

[Nobodysfriend]

A typical case of the old dilemma about what is more important , the preservation of an already damaged ecosystem , ( the corals ) , or profit of some kind for the people who exploit that system , ( the fishermen ) .

The answer is very clear to me : Preservation comes before profit .

The fishermen not only exploit the coral reefs , they damage them with their nets .

I have a big bucket full of broken off red corals here where I live . They have been stuck to broken fishing nets when I collected them on the beach . 

It is the eternal greed for profit of some kind ( does not need to be material ) , that destroys the planet .