WHAT IS
CORAL MINING?
Coral mining occurs when live corals are removed from the
water and used for other purposes, such as bricks, road filling, or cement for
new buildings. Even in our country, Maldives, which is an island nation, built
entirely of coral reefs, almost all village homes, businesses, and municipal
buildings are constructed of coral as they are the only building material
available in the country as all the other materials are imported to the country and hence, coral mining is widespread in Maldives. 
With the increase in the
development of the country, the demand for the coral has also increased and the
coral blocks needed for the construction of the buildings has been extracted
from shallow reef flats, which cause a lot of damage to the beautiful coral reefs of Maldives.
HOW IS
CORAL MINED?
So how is the
coral needed for the buildings mined?
Well the process of coral mining is actually a lot of hard work as it
involves a lot of manual and intensive labor. Firstly, they travel the needed distance in order to reach a suitable reef, in a small wooden boat. When
reaching the reefs they starts mining from the inner edge ring reefs and the
corals are dug up and broken by using iron bars. Some corals are however small
enough to be managed by without breaking and then these corals are lifted by
hand on to the boat. Then these corals are taken to the islands where they are
left out I the sun where they are dried.
THE
EFFECT OF CORAL MINING ON REEFS
These coral mining activities are
extremely harmful to the reefs. These activities pose a huge threat to the
sustainability of the reefs and the biodiversity of the reef will also be
affected by these activities. Also these
coral reefs are the only strategic natural offshore sea-defense and if these
reefs are destructed by these activities, our islands will be left defenseless
from the huge waves of the ocean.
Coral reefs are home to fish and
many more sea creatures and when these corals are taken from the ocean, these
creatures lose their home and hence the lives of a lot of creatures will be
affected.
One of the major problems faced
by coral mining is the sediment pollution which causes a stoppage in the growth
of the reef and its diversity. Sediment pollution occur when the sediments of
the reef become dark and sticky with a lot of run off and pollution and these
sediments then stick to the reef organisms smothering them to death. In
addition to this, they clouds up the water column which prevents light from
reaching down to the reef organisms and since coral is half plant, it needs
light for photosynthesis, hence affecting the feeding process of the corals and
destroying the reef. Therefore we need to stop the mining of these coral reefs
and start protecting them instead.
This journal article here will explain more impacts on the coral reefs of Maldives due to coral mining.
This journal article here will explain more impacts on the coral reefs of Maldives due to coral mining.
WAYS TO PREVENT
IT
There are many ways to prevent coral mining. Firstly, the
government of Maldives can improve regulation of coral and reef trade that
requires demonstration of sustainable use and collection, for both domestic and
international trade. Secondly, they can fulfill monitoring and management
obligations and can establish a “no-take” Marine Protected Areas as ecological
reserves and fine a large some from anyone who does not follow these rules and
regulations. In addition to this, the
government can also establish management plans that limit harvesting to a sustainable
level and prevent blasting of coral reefs through legal action and enforcement.
Also more importantly, programs can be conducted to educate consumers of coral
and coral reef products of the consequences of their choices and also educate
local communities on sustainable fishing methods and alternative livelihoods. There is a research done on bleaching damage and recovery potential of Maldivian coral reef, which explain the extent of this damage and potential for recovery, which you can read here.
These beautiful coral reefs are one of the most valuable
tourism industry assets, on which our economy rests on and these reefs are also
the barrier which protects our islands from the huge waves of the ocean.
Therefore, as citizens of this country, it is our duty and responsibility to
save these coral reef ecosystems.
This video here shows how the Great Barrier Reef of Australia is even threatened by coral mining.
References:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2019-08-reveals-impact-coral-reefs.amp
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