The local community of Trang during the seagrass transplanting activity in the Sikao bay.
This project, involving the young generation, started in 2004 after a severe storm hit the coasts destroying large part of the seabed.
The PH and the 02 level in the water begun to gradually changed, resulting in a loss of biodiversity.
Thanks to these continuous efforts by the local community, since 2018 the seagrass planted in the beginning of the project have
totally developed. The ecosystem slowly recovered its health status with a noticeably increase of the fish fauna. Trang Thailand
Sea turtles are among the most impacted marine species by climate change.
While sea level rise and stronger storms erode their beach habitats, the rising temperatures can change ocean currents,
potentially introducing sea turtles to new predators. Furthermore, according to several studies, exist a direct relation between
the sand temperature where the turtles nest and the gender of the offspring. The sand temperature infact, influence the gender of the
offspring during incubation, favoring the females birth and creating consequently a shortage of males.
Since years the Royal Thai Navy is committed in sea turtle conservation activities. Thanks to conservation centers spread all over the
Country, they monitor and breed hawksbill and green turtles with the aim of releasing them in the sea increasing their population. Songkhla Thailand
Detail of a fisherman arm and his fishing net in Tom Thong Yai village.
One of the causes of the decrease of the fish population is the overfishing practices done in the past years by the big boats.
Fishing techniques with trawl nets and dynamite destroyed large part of the reefs, catching indistinctively both adult and juvenile fishes,
interrupting their life cycle and consequently their population.
People have realised that in the long term these practices weren't profitable anymore due to a drastically decrease of the fish population
in the bay. For this reason, since 2012 they decided to change regulations and ban the big boats from the bay, allowing
just sustainable fishing practices using the long tail boats and the small fishing nets. Chumphon Thailand
Bunarung Rakru (51) works as a fisherman since he was 10 years old and now taught to his adolescent sons how to practising fishing
According to his experience now in the waters there are less fish compared to the past.
His family can still rely on the income derived by fishing activity but since 2019 he started a parallel business as boat driver
for tourist who wants to visit the area in order to have a second income.
"The fishing activity is becoming very unpredictable due to extreme weather events and environmental changes.
Local families need to be prepared to overcome some periods of financial difficulty due to the low fishing seasons" Trang Thailand
A woman sells fish at a local market in Sichon. She says that some species have abandoned these coasts in the last years especially
mackarels, crabs, shrimps, while the remaining species are much smaller in size.
The locals gives the fault to the near canal expansion realised for increase the boat traffic for commercial purposes.
The excessive quantity of freshwater and chemicals used for agricultural practices goes into the sea changing
the marine ecosystem of the coastal area. Sichon Thailand
Due to severe storms and massive sediments and chemicals coming from Trang city rivers, the substrate of the south eastern bay of Koh Libong changed drastically. This environmental change lead to the demise of sea grass resulting in a massive biodiversity loss. This not only impacted the ecosystem, but also the island inhabitants, as they can't rely anymore on shellfish sale, which has always been a good income for their livelihood. Koh Libong Thailand
Officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation involved in the seagrass transplantation activity in Koh Libong.
The Koh Libong coastal environment has approximately 32 square km of seagrass cover, hosting up to 12 different species. Currently in the coastal area 16 square km of seagrass are sick and 3,2 square km completely dead.
The ecosystem of the island completely changed: in the past 10 years the seagrass could grown up to 120cm, but now the maximum growth is around 20cm. Due to this environmental changes, the temperature in sensibly increasing in the shallower water as the seagrass provided shadow to the seabed. Consequently mollusk and other small fish can’t stand this new hotter environment. Furthermore, the seagrass lost has a great impact also mammals population such as dugong, which they have in the seagrass the base of their diet. Koh Libong Thailand
The fish houses project (Sai-Nang) in Tom Thong Yai bay. Sai-Nang are built using bamboo sticks and palm leaves.
The local community started this project 15 ears ago in order to avoid the use of destructive fishing practices in the bay, preserving
its environment. The palm leaves around the bamboo sticks provide a safe place that fish can use as shelter for breeding groung
and consequently increase the fish population in the bay. Since the project has started they use to build 100 to 500 fish houses per year.
Due to the natural decomposition of the bamboo and the palm leaves, the fish houses has to be replaced once a year.
Since the beginning of the project, the fish population (especially tuna, black pomfret, grouper, mackarel) increased noticeably in the bay.
In the majority of Thailand coastal areas, communities rely almost exclusively on income derived from fishing activities
Especially from April to July many families dedicate themselves to squid fishing as is one of the most remunerative product of the seafood market. The best hours to catch them are during the dark as squid are attracted by the green lamps used by the fishermen.
Due to climate change and biodiversity loss, in the last vears families passed from a daily catch of 80kg to 20kg.
This affect negatively their incomes and many family nowadays need a second activity to sustain themselves, mostly in the rubber or palm oil plantation. Chumphon Thailand
Daw (33) works as a fisherman on the big boats in the Thailand Gulf since five years. The crew is sailing with is composed by six/eight people, all working in poor conditions in order to give their families a decent livelihood. They used to navigate the open sea for one to two months trip at once, coming back on the mainland just for few days to reorganize themselves. During their deep water trip, a single boat can consume up to 400L diesel per day, using the seawater to cool down the engine and contaminate consequently the ocean with kerosene. Big companies expect them to catch a great amount of fish everyday (up to 3 tons) using unsustainable practices such as trawl nets, for satisfy the huge demand of national market. Sichon Thailand
The Blackfin barracuda (Sphyraena qenie), also known as the Chevron barracuda, is a species of barracuda highly consumed especially in Southern Thailand. Barracuda are important parts of marine food webs because they remove sick and vulnerable individuals from prey fish populations. However, anything that threatens coral reefs, seagrass beds, or mangrove forests is a threat to barracudas. These include coastal development, ocean acidification, marine debris pollution, overfishing and excessive nutrients that leads to harmful algal blooms. Koh Tao Thailand
In the recent years, destructive fishing practices had a big impact on biodiversity loss in the waters of Thailand Gulf.
Due to the increasing difficulties in finding a sufficient quantity of catch in the bay, many communities of fishermen decided to abandon these practices embracing the sustainable fishing.
Tanawat, Narong and Atid, are an example of sustainable fishermen from Yau Bay. Since 2018 they use long tail boats to go fishing offshore using just hand nets. Even if the catch amount is not comparable as it was back in the days, they can now sustain themselves and their families thanks to collaboration with slow food restaurants. Chumphon Thailand
A villager goes in search of sea shells during the low tide in the southern bay of Koh Libong.
Due to severe storms in the last years the seabed structure changed, and the wider leaf seagrass had stop to grow naturally impacting
severely the marine ecosystem.Other than that, mud, sediment and polluted water coming from Trang city also played a crucial role
in these changes, which are having a great impact even on the community life. The most humble families who can't afford a long tail
boat to go fishing in the deep sea, were used to go daily in the bay during low tide to collect shellfish to sell in the local markets.
This is always been a good business for them, as in Koh Libong is possible to find a particular species of spiral shellfish highly requested
in local restaurants. Today people can't rely anymore on this activity as the typical spiral shellfish are slowly disappearing. Koh Libong Thailand
Two local divers are deploying concrete structure in a new site for coral restoration in Jameluk. To restore the marine ecosystem damaged by unsustainable fishing the local NGO Perkumpulan Pemandu Penyelam Amed (or P3A), are building artificial reefs on damaged reef areas. P3A consists of mostly Balinese divers that are committed to marine conservation. The first reef restoration projects have been accomplished with success in Jemeluk and Lipah. These are quite damaged reef areas consisting mostly of dead coral rubble, slowly being taken over by algae. There is hardly no possibility for a natural recovery of the coral reef. By deploying artificial structures on which coral recruits are transplanted, this once thriving reef can be restored. These artificial structures can variate in materials and dimensions, from concrete cubes to metal pyramid and meshes, to maximize the refuge area for different fauna. Amed Indonesia
In November 2021 Coral Reef Care, a dutch NGO, begun a collaboration with a local diving association P3A (Perkumpulan Penyelam
Pemandu Amed) and the fishermen in Amed, North East Bali. Depending the sea floor topography, they use different techniques.
For the flat areas they developed a modular system of concrete cubes and bricks.
The structures mimic the natural complexity of coral colonies in a sense that it provides many small refuge areas for fish and invertebrates.
A diverse array of marine life is required to support and sustain a healthy reef ecosystem. On the concrete structures they plant corals of
opportunity i.e coral fragments that broke off healthy corals naturally or by human impact. Planting these corals speeds up the creation
of the new reef and slows down settlement of other benthic organisms like algae who can quickly take over.
Inside the Marine Science Department laboratories of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Dr. Suchana Chavanich team works on coral spore cryopreservation.
The present study developed a cryopreservation protocol for the sperm of the common Indo-Pacific reef-builder Acropora humilis.
This protocol can facilitate the preservation of sperm for future propagation efforts of this species and provide an experimental platform for optimizing cryopreservation protocols for gametes of other scleractinian coral species.
Here, Dr. Preecha Sanesith, extract the coral spores samples from the storage tank filled with nitrogen. Bangkok Thailand
A sample of Pocillopora Acuta is being tested in a continuous nitrogen chamber recreating an hypoxic condition inside the laboratory
of MACORIN (Marine and Coastal Research Institute) at Prince of Songhkla University.
Hypoxic conditions means that the oxvgen level are less than 2 mg/L
Low oxygen levels has an extreme impact on corals as it causes a very fast tissue loss, even in a short period of 10 days Hat Yai Thailand
Coral Reef Care, a dutch-based NGO, in the past few yers initiates community-based and community-driven reef conservation projects in Indonesia. In November 2021 they start a collaboration with the local diving association P3A (Perkumpulan Penyelam Pemandu Amed) and the fishermen in Amed, North East Bali. They work on various restoration areas mainly consisting of dead coral rubble and algae with the aim of restoring exploited reefs into their natural thriving status.
The strategy of involving locals has a win-win effect for both the community and their environment.
Involving the fishermen means reducing the fishing activities and at the same time keep them busy in restoration projects. Thanks to this approach, the marine environment will have more time and possibilities to recover while the people committed in this project will earn a more stable income deriving from conservation activities.
During scientific expedition, a researcher from Ramkhamhaeng University is conducting a fish survey among the Acropora fields surrounding Koh Tao.This research is important for analyze how the marine biodiversity is changing in the years and how the climate change impact the migratory path of several fish species. Koh Tao Thailand
The Nemo (Amphiprion ocellaris) population off Jakarta coasts has decreased and is feared to be extinct.
Nemo populations are declining as a result of overfishing and the ornamental fish trade which depends on wild captures.
The DKI Jakarta government has created a hatchery to revive the Nemo population into the wild in order to protect the marine ecology.
Nemo hatchery, which started in 2018, has become a collaborative project involving marine sector agencies, one of which is the
Department of Food Security, Maritime Affairs, and Agriculture, related to restocking activities. Tidung Island Indonesia
Oceans are important ecosystems that are increasingly degraded through human influence
Coastal environments suffer from nutrient enrichment, due mostly agricultural fertilizer use, which results in accelerated eutrophication
effects due to increased microbial metabolic rates.
Climate change related prolonged warming will likely accelerate existing eutrophication effects, including low oxygen concentrations.
All these water quality changes will affect negatively the marine ecosystem resulting especially in algae blooming which will
aggressively compete against coral reefs. Koh Phangan Thailand
Dolaji is walking through an abandoned village on Pekalongan coast.
Dolaji says: "I used to spent here my whole childhood with my friends. It's sad to see your memories swiped away.'
This village has been sacrified by the local authorities in order to avoid the advancement of the sea towards other villages.
They have built a containing wall a kilometer before the village, installing a pump that extract the excess of water during the high tide
The last inhabitant of the village left on May 2022. Pekalongan Indonesia
Abdul Latief (62) work as fisherman since 37 years.
Since the sea has penetrated inland, the wind is getting stronger and fish are harder to find. Nowadays he spend more money for
boat's fuel than what he can earn.
His house flooded for the first time in 2008 and since then he has already elevated it twice, in 2009 and 2019.
Today floods are getting higher but Abdul hasn't got enough money to elevate once again his house.
His family wants to move inland but for Abdul fishing it's all his life. Demak Regency Indonesia
In Timbulsloko every daily life activities are influenced by the climate change presence. The inhabitants of this area learnt to coexist in this ravaged environment as the most of them can't resettle in other more inland zones due to a lack of economic possibilities or for job related to marine environment. And that's how having 30 cm of water inside the houses or even dry the clothes on a bamboo rack in the middle of a flooded street became normal. Demak Regency Indonesia
In Demak, the coastline has severely eroding, mangroves that protected the shore has been cut down and replaced by aquaculture ponds
Simultaneously subsidence is increasing due to groundwater extraction for domestic and industrial uses.
This combination factor has left the coastline and community exposed to the daily tides and extreme weather events occurring more
frequently due to climate change.
The sea has washed away the dikes around fishponds, it has penetrated inland about 1 km and the village has lost 25 rows of ponds.
In efforts to minimize tidal impact concrete sea wall were built but these blocked the sediment transport inland and eventually collapsed
in soft mud. Effort to plan mangroves also failed because the water has become too deep. Demak Regency Indonesia
Despite the difficult life conditions, the most of the inhabitants of Demak don't want to move because their income-earning potential is tied to their location nearby the sea.
Those with a relatively good income, mostly fishermen who own their own boats, adopt different strategies to copy with the sea level rise and tidal flooding. The one who have sufficient income, elevate their homes 1 meter every two years, while others build containing walls that surround their house, protecting them from floods. Demak Regency Indonesia
Yani holds her 1 year old baby. She lives with her Mom Siti Kairumah of 62 years old who opened a small shop in her house 45 years ago. Since their village started to flooding repeatedly they have less clients and consequently less income. To withstand the flooding, they have elevated their house 3 times: in 2005, 2009 and 2020. Even if life became more difficult in the years, they want to remain in the village because they feel happy here. They can't imagine themselves moving to other place, at least until they will be oblige to move. Demak Regency Indonesia
Tombstones emerges from a flooded cemetery in Timbulsloko
For the inhabitants of this area, the cemetery is the one of the few things left that connects them with their history.
The majority of the villagers don't want to leave their homes even if the land around them is rapidily disappearing, eaten by the sea.
Thev are emotionallv connected to their born place and manv of them can't afford a new house in a safest zone. Demak Regency Indonesia
Sea level rise and soil subsidence impact strongly people lives on the North Coast of Java.
The sea has crept out into the villages, forcing residents to live in their sinking houses.
In some areas between Pekalongan and Demak the level of water is always above the ground even during low tide
Some people there even have to live with seawater reaching up to their windows.
In order to stay dry who can't afford to build a new house, adopts structural intervetions such as raising the floors as high as two meters
per year. The most humble families instead, install wooden decks trying to stay dry as much as they can. Demak Regency Indonesia
Magroves plays a key role in balancing the marine ecosystem, providing shelter for many marine species and protecting from
coastal erosion.In addition mangroves are able to sequestrate a great quantity of CO2, limitating the ocean acidification.
In the North Coasts of Java many mangroves forests have been cleared in favour of industrial development, accelerating phenomena
as sea level rise and ground sinking.A government policy based on mangrove transplanting, together with a reduction of groundwater
extraction could be the only chance to slowen and eventually stop these phenomena, ensuring a future for local coastal communities Demak Regency Indonesia
