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Biodiversity conservation Protected Areas Coastal ecosystems

In the front line	Coral reefs and mangroves are two of the world’s rarest ecosystems, covering an area that is an order of magnitude less than that of tropical and subtropical forests. Both ecosystems are under serious threat. Some 30 per cent of reefs are already seriously damaged and 60 per cent could be lost by 2030.Threats include overfishing, use of destructive fishing methods, coral mining, pollution, sedimentation,anchor damage and tourism, as well as coral bleaching, disease and tropical storms.	PDF Document 1.03MB
Guide to Koh Phra Thong natural habitats	The island of Koh Phra Thong, in the Adaman sea off the shores of Thailan d boasts of six distinct ecosystems, namely mangrove forest,beach forest, swamp forest, savannah, seagrass bed and coral reefs.The island hosts 217 wild species that include eleven mammals, 45 reptiles, 37 birds, eight amphibians and 24 freshwater fish species. The island and its surroundings hosts a number of endangered species such as the Lesser Adjutant, the Dugong, the Sunda Pangolin, the Hawksbill Turtle, the Leatherback Turtle, the Oriental Pied Hornbill, the Wild Boar, and the Sambar Deer.	PDF Document 830KB
Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 1 July 2006	Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 1 July 2006	PDF Document 270KB
Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 2 September 2006	Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 2 September 2006	PDF Document 224KB
Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter – Issue # 3 January 2007	Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter – Issue # 3 January 2007	PDF Document 102KB
Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter – Issue # 4 April 2007	Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter – Issue # 4 April 2007	PDF Document 769KB
Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 5 July 2007	Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 5 July 2007	PDF Document 421KB
Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 6 October 2007	Coastal Ecosystems Newsletter - Issue # 6 October 2007	PDF Document 316KB

Greening reconstruction Food security Value addition Resource rights Land use Harmonising existing law Coastal risk management Public awareness and education Warning systems Community approaches Valuation

Valuing Asia’s coastal ecosystems as development infrastructure	Valuing Asia’s coastal ecosystems as development infrastructure	PDF Document 160KB
Counting coastal ecosystems as an economic part of development infrastructure	From an economic perspective, coastal ecosystems should be treated, counted and invested in as elements of development infrastructure as a stock of facilities, services and equipment which are needed for the economy and society to function properly. In order to ensure their productivity and continued support to human development, they need to be maintained and improved to meet both today’s needs and intensifying demands and pressures in the future just like any other component of infrastructure. In contrast, a failure to value ecosystems when choices are made about allocating land, resources and investment funds can incur far-reaching economic costs. It may ultimately undermine many of today’s efforts at sustainable and equitable development, integrated management, and long-term reconstruction and economic growth in coastal areas.	PDF Document 984KB
Valuation, rehabilitation and conservation of mangroves in tsunami affected areas of Hambantota, Sri Lanka: Economic valuation of tsunami affected mangroves	IUCN and SEEDO jointly undertook a valuation study assessing the economic values of mangroves in Hambantota district of Sri Lanka. The study valued the environmental goods and services provided by mangroves and benefi ting the local communities. The mangrove goods that were values included various NTFPs (fish, shellfish, fuelwood, wild vegetables, herbs, fodder, coconut leaves, husks, coir) as well as timber and poles, and the valued mangrove services included fish nurseries and breeding grounds, restocking of near-shore fisheries and shoreline protection.	PDF Document 919KB
Counting the environmental costs of natural disasters	Following the spate of natural disasters in the fi rst few years of the twenty fi rst century, focus is unusually but increasingly turning to the conservation of ecosystems and indeed the role of natural resource management in both mitigating the sheer quantum of damages as well as rehabilitating lives, livelihoods and economies post disaster. The focus on coastal ecosystems and their constituent natural resources to a large extent has been brought to centre stage by the sobering effects of the Indian Ocean Tsunami on the coasts of several South Asian, East African and Southeast Asian countries.	PDF Document 1.74MB

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Coastal Ecosystems Database (2006)

Post Tsunami Response

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	Mangroves protect People	The tsunami has provided an opportunity to illustrate that healthy mangroves serve as a natural barrier against natural and man made disasters – protecting infrastructure and saving lives. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is restoring mangrove ecosystems in and around key protected areas in Sri Lanka and Thailand that were affected by the tsunami as a mechanism to strengthen ecosystem conservation and reduce the vulnerability of coastal populations in Sri Lanka and Thailand	PDF Document 1.23MB
	Establishment and management of MPAs	Areas set aside for protection in the marine environment range enormously in size, location and purpose. They also provide a highly variable degree of protection to biodiversity, which was not necessarily the prime purpose for which the areas were set aside. Compared with some 11.6 million km2 protected on land. Information on many marine protected areas is not robust, though sites range across all of the world’s marine regions.	PDF Document 463KB

	Green reconstruction policy guidelines for Aceh	Green reconstruction aims to improve the quality of life for communities and affected individuals whilst minimising the negative impacts of reconstruction on the environment and maintaining the long-term biological diversity and productivity of natural systems. Those impacted by the tsunami will be looking to healthy marine ecosystems as a source of livelihoods and food security, and as a potential first line of defence against future natural disasters. There is a strong connection between the well being of many of the most vulnerable individuals in the post tsunami recovery process (women, children and those dependent on subsistence activities) and a well-managed environment.	PDF Document 685KB
	Tsunami impacts on shallow groundwater and associated water supply on the East Coast of Sri Lanka	Soon after the tsunami, massive efforts to clean the wells were initiated from a range of different actors in an attempt to rapidly return the water supply to normal conditions, or at least ameliorate the immediate impacts of the salinization of the wells. Based on indications that these efforts were uncoordinated, inadequate, inefficient and at the extreme harmful to the water quality and the well functioning, IWMI set in at various levels to try and guide and coordinate these efforts.	PDF Document 4.05MB

	Rebuilding fisheries livelihoods in Sri Lanka post-tsunami	Sri Lanka's fishing industry contributed nearly 2.5 percent to the country's national income. From Point Pedro in the Northern Jaffna Peninsula up to Galle district in the Southern province there were 171,000 active fishermen engaged in fishing industry. The coastal zone accounts for nearly 80% of fish production. Fisheries play a central role in supplying about 65% of the animal protein consumed by Sri Lankans. The coastal fishery provides the major portion of this.	PDF Document 234KB
	Rebuilding boats may not equal rebuilding livelihoods	Indonesian rural coastal communities are highly dependent on coastal fisheries resources for food security and livelihoods with many of the people working as small-scale fishers, using low-technology gear and small powered and un-powered vessels Armed with good intentions and awash with money, but without clear co-ordination and a coherent strategy many of the efforts to rehabilitate these coastal communities will fail. Worse still, they may imperil the longer term livelihoods of the communities they are seeking to help.	PDF Document 704KB

	The case of Moklen people in southern Thailand	The Moklen are an indigenous community of sea faring people, commonly referred to as sea gypsies, plying the south China seas. They lead a nomadic life, but some have settled along the Andaman coast of southern Thailand . Most of them hold Thai citizenship and have adopted Buddhism, whilst still practising their beliefs in ancestral spirits. As one would expect, the Moklen are primarily dependent on fishing, whilst some have begun to work in rubber and coconut plantations.	PDF Document 9KB
	Cadastral reconstruction in Aceh: a newborn concept of adjudication	Tsunami and earthquake in 26th December 2004 in Aceh, the northern part of Sumatra Island, have significantly given valuable lessons for all kind of human living; include the relationship between land and people, which is the domain of cadastral services. One of the precious lessons is that the cadastral mind-set needs to be reformatted in line with the new movement to be more focus to the people rather than to the land or to the right attached on the land.The increased role of people as one of the stakeholders needs to be restructured since the Community has the power to be the central of information provider.	PDF Document 424KB

	Producing a draft law on coastal zone management for Thailand	Coastal zone management in Thailand has, for decades, been governed through ad hoc application of natural resource and environmental quality laws, which is seldom coordinated with the implementation of laws governing sectors that carry out activities in the coastal zone. The aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami demonstrated the shortcomings of a fragmented approach to regulating coastal zone management and led to the development and formulation of a draft law.	PDF Document 139KB
	Land issues arising from the ethnic conflict and the tsunami disaster	The tsunami disaster and the reconstruction efforts it has necessitated, present an opportunity for revisiting some governance reform issues. In particular, we stress respect for the principles of power-sharing and regional autonomy which are not only pivotal to the peaceful resolution of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, but are also essential in promoting transparency, responsiveness, representativeness and accountability.	PDF Document 227KB

Integrated coastal management for disaster mitigation	Integrated coastal management (ICM) is increasingly an accepted management framework to address coastal and marine environmental problems, conflicts and management needs. A primary goal of most ICM and related programs is to achieve sustainable use of coastal resources and to ensure that coastal communities plan for and minimize, or mitigate, the impacts of development and natural hazards. The U.S. Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Program is adopting ICM as an approach to mitigate disasters in coastal areas through ongoing planning and implementation processes.	PDF Document 204KB
Designing for Tsunamis	Beyond preparing for evacuation and emergency response, communities can reduce their tsunami risk by modifying their land use planning and development approval practices. Although planning for tsunamis will not be a top priority for most coastal communities, relatively small efforts to plan for this hazard can significantly increase community safety.	PDF Document 533KB
Rapid environmental and socio-economic assessment of tsunami damage in terrestrial and marine coastal ecosystems of Ampara and Batticaloa districts of Eastern Sri Lanka – draft report	Rapid environmental and socio-economic assessment of tsunami damage in terrestrial and marine coastal ecosystems of Ampara and Batticaloa districts of Eastern Sri Lanka – draft report	PDF Document 1.59MB
Early observations of tsunami effects on mangrove and coastal forests (Chinese)	Early observations of tsunami effects on mangrove and coastal forests (Chinese)	PDF Document 208KB
Tourism as an alternative livelihood option – ensuring incorporation of environmental consideration in associated reconstruction and rehabilitation	Tourism as an alternative livelihood option – ensuring incorporation of environmental consideration in associated reconstruction and rehabilitation	PDF Document 81KB
Reducing risk and vulnerability to future natural disasters and loss of ecosystem services	Reducing risk and vulnerability to future natural disasters and loss of ecosystem services	PDF Document 76KB
Impacts of the recent tsunami on the Bundala national park – the first RAMSAR wetland in Sri Lanka	Impacts of the recent tsunami on the Bundala national park – the first RAMSAR wetland in Sri Lanka	PDF Document 225KB
Impacts of the recent tsunami on the Lunama-Kalametiya wetland sanctuary	Impacts of the recent tsunami on the Lunama-Kalametiya wetland sanctuary	PDF Document 200KB
Impact of the resent tsunami on the Rekawa proposed coastal sanctuary and turtle refuse	Impact of the resent tsunami on the Rekawa proposed coastal sanctuary and turtle refuse	PDF Document 237KB
Coral reef areas in South Western Sri Lanka: status after the tsunami and recommendations on management action	Coral reef areas in South Western Sri Lanka: status after the tsunami and recommendations on management action	PDF Document 18KB
Hikkaduwa national park and Rumassala/ Buona Vista marine sanctuary: status after the tsunami 26 December 2004 and recommendations on management action	Hikkaduwa national park and Rumassala/ Buona Vista marine sanctuary: status after the tsunami 26 December 2004 and recommendations on management action	PDF Document 17KB
Update on IUCN activities in Sri Lanka – draft report of a consultation	Update on IUCN activities in Sri Lanka – draft report of a consultation	PDF Document 18KB
Tsunami damage to terrestrial coastal ecosystems common guidelines and methodology for rapid field assessment – working draft	Tsunami damage to terrestrial coastal ecosystems common guidelines and methodology for rapid field assessment – working draft	PDF Document 531KB
A report on the terrestrial assessment of tsunami impact on the coastal environment in Rekawa, Ussangoda and Kalametiya (Ruk) area of Southern Sri Lanka – draft report	A report on the terrestrial assessment of tsunami impact on the coastal environment in Rekawa, Ussangoda and Kalametiya (Ruk) area of Southern Sri Lanka – draft report	PDF Document 1.44MB
Post tsunami rapid assessment of mangroves – report of consultation	Post tsunami rapid assessment of mangroves – report of consultation	PDF Document 40KB
Rapid assessment guidelines released for tsunami damaged coral reefs	Rapid assessment guidelines released for tsunami damaged coral reefs	PDF Document 1.05MB
Rapid assessment guidelines released for tsunami damaged coral reefs – sample data sheet	Rapid assessment guidelines released for tsunami damaged coral reefs – sample data sheet	XLS Document 80KB
Protective values of mangrove and coral ecosystems: a review of methods and evidence	Protective values of mangrove and coral ecosystems: a review of methods and evidence	PDF Document 208KB

	The readiness challenge	Tsunami hazard planning is widely neglected due to the comparative rarity of tsunamis. Because of that rarity, individuals and communities are not as "tsunami-aware" as they should be. Furthermore, the level of tsunami readiness varies significantly from community to community. Avoidable casualties and property damage eventually will be significant unless communities at risk are prepared for tsunamis. Readiness involves two key components: awareness and mitigation. Awareness involves educating key decision makers, emergency managers, and the public about the nature (physical processes) and threat (frequency of occurrence, impact) of a hazard. Mitigation involves taking steps before a hazardous event occurs to lessen the impact (loss of life and property) of that event when it does occur. As with earthquakes, there is no question tsunamis will occur. It's just a matter of when, and how bad it will be.	PDF Document 192KB
	Tsunami teacher	As a contribution to the building of training to support the communication of tsunami risk to the public, the IOC of UNESCO has developed the TsunamiTeacher Information and Resource Toolkit. The Toolkit brings together a wealth of new and existing information on tsunamis into a single, reliable, and verified global resource that is widely accessible to people, groups and governments around the world. TsunamiTeacher aims to build awareness and capacity to respond and mitigate the impact of tsunamis through the sharing of knowledge, research, and best practices. Materials are available that can be adapted to develop locally- relevant responses. A feature of the Toolkit is the ability to customize training modules for different audiences.	PDF Document 390KB

	Planning a national disaster early warning system in Thailand	A committee for the Development of an Early Warning Centre will receive data from the relevant government departments such as the Thai Meteorological Department , the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Royal Irrigation Department and other national agencies, when there are indications that severe conditions are expected. Information from threatened populations may also be valuable.	PDF Document 502KB
	National early warning system: Sri Lanka	National early warning system: SrPublic warning is a system, not a technology. The identification, detection and risk assessment of a hazard, the accurate identification of the vulnerability of a population at risk and finally the communication of information to the vulnerable population about the threat in sufficient time and clarity so that they take action to avert negative consequences constitute the system of public warning. Warning allows people to act in order to prevent hazards from becoming disasters. Effective public warning saves lives, reduces economic loss, reduces trauma and disruption in society and instills confidence and a sense of security in the public. It is an important component of the foundation of a sound economy.	PDF Document 300KB

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