Marine protected areas greatly boost both coral recovery and the abundance of coral reef fish. This is the main finding of a survey on coral reefs in the northern Sumatran islands of Weh and Aceh earlier this year. The survey was carried out under the IUCN Coastal Ocean Research and Development in the Indian Ocean programme (CORDIO), in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Syiah Kuala University.
In addition, the fast recovery of corals in areas outside marine protected areas suggests that the recovery of coral reefs from prior disturbance is happening at a rapid rate.
Set up mainly to monitor the recovery of corals following the 2004 tsunami, the 2007 survey found that human management had a greater impact on reef fish abundance than the tsunami.
With most of the monitoring work completed, IUCN-CORDIO is now focusing on strengthening community participation in reef management, assisting with marine protected area development and the mapping of fisheries, gear use and fishing effort among local communities.
More information:
>>>
