On the Ground in Ujung Kulon: Coral reef work

Bringing back Ujung Kulon's reefs

In addition to the rhino work being carried out in the Park, the Ujung Kulon project is expanding with a new activity involving the rehabilitation and translocation of coral reef.

As most of reefs in Indonesia, Ujung Kulon reefs was also affected by the mass coral belaching 1997-1998. There was also an event of mass destruction due to contamination / algal bloom in 1996-1997. However, there is lack of data about the impacts and the recovery of the reefs.

Preparing for the unexpected
To understand coral bleaching better, and to prepare for any possibility of any such event, the project has strengthened its regular coral monitoring with integration of coral bleaching monitoring and data analysis.

State of the reef
A 1997 coral reef inventory conducted by Park staff concluded that only 14% of the coral were in good condition. The rest was damaged, mostly from bomb-fishing carried out by fishing fleets from the nerby island of Sumatra.

In collaboration with Telapak, an Indonesian NGO, WWF investigated dynamite fishing in 1998. It was found that the bombing fleet came from Lampung, the southern province of Sumatra, and that Ujung Kulon's marine areas was their closest operation.

Reason for hope
WWF coral reef monitoring in Ujung Kulon reported that in ten monitoring plots, the soft corals were able to increase up to 88% on average within four months.

Coral Cloning?
Since 2001, soft coral is being grown, some of which will eventually be used for trade. Profits are expected to be made within the next 2 years. Eventually, corals will be transplanted to other areas of the Park where coral is degraded.