Coral cultivation hailed as success for Thailand

Announcing the news, Department of Marine Science lecturers Associate Professor Dr Wannapop Wiyakarn and Associate Professor Dr Suchana Chavanit said the project had been conducted for the past five years and finally succeeded in releasing warm-water corals into the sea.
Collaborating on the project, which utilised new knowledge to find alternative solutions to coral bleaching that has decimated reefs, are the Plant Genetic Conservation Project, initiated by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Royal Thai Fleet’s Naval Special Warfare Command, and Japan’s Akajima Marine Science Laboratory.
Corals were taken from Saem San Island in Chon Buri’s Sattahip district and bred for two years before being released back into the sea, said Wannapop.
“This research is a first for Thailand, yielding successful reproduction of coral outside its native environment from March 2006, followed by an incubation process and then finally releasing the corals into the sea off the Khao Mha Jor coast in Sattahip. Our January inspection found that the artificially-bred corals are growing well and breeding naturally in sea that is two degrees Celsius warmer than the experimental pond,” he added.
This was an alternative way of rehabilitating the coral reef in an area where the natural coral had deteriorated, and would allow nature to heal itself, said Wannapop. He said it would, however, be many years before this method had a strong positive impact on rehabilitating reefs, hence other factors causing reef damage needed to be tackled.
Rising sea temperatures and the impact from tourism are thought to be the two main culprits in destruction of coral.