Coral bleaching a nemesis for the Andaman reefs: Building an improved conservation paradigm

Coral bleaching has emerged as an outright menace for the coral reefs right through their global distribution range. Despite being rated among the highly diverse biological ecosystems on the earth, coral reefs are deteriorating at an alarming rate due to severe intensification of multiple natural and human-induced disturbances, especially in the tropical oceans and coastlines. The Andaman Islands in India are not an exception to this peril. A dearth of adequate scientific data and poor management has led to large-scale bleaching and extirpation of coral populations in the Andamans. As the regular episodes of coral bleaching and mortality are hampering an array of critical ecosystem services, conservation of coral reefs becomes a prime imperative. This paper discusses the vulnerable status of coral populations in some of the important Andaman Islands, their diversity and inadequacy of the various management strategies being implemented. Some realistic conservation strategies novel to India and several developing countries of the world are also proposed. These ideas lay the foundation for a conservation paradigm considering both the changing biodiversity maintained by natural processes and rapid alterations brought about by humans. Major as well as subtle modifications in the existing programs and formulation of an integrated pattern applied for reef conservation can prove to be substantial.

► Coral bleaching is a major threat to Indian coastal biodiversity and economics.
► We found severe degradation of coral reefs in the Andaman Islands.
► Reef conservation is gaining impetus in India but not substantial enough.
► This paper presents various strategies to protect the coral reefs.
► Some of these approaches are novel to India and other developing countries.