The coral reefs of the Central Indian Ocean have now been quantified and mapped in the world’s first coral reef atlas, prepared by the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.
The atlas, called the ‘Coral Reef Atlas of the World’, also gives a report on the health of different reefs.
It has emerged that Gujarat’s coral reef cover has eroded by 23.2% over the past two decades. One of the main factors cited for this degradation is anthropogenic influence, i.e., impact of human activity.
As the world celebrates Earth Day today, such stark degradation of coral reefs brings to light the many threats Planet Earth faces. The first Earth Day was celebrated in the US forty years ago to draw the attention of the world to the problems for ‘life on earth’ created by modernisation.
A detailed assessment of the health of the coral reefs in the Central Indian Ocean is given in the Coral Reef Atlas along with an assessment of the health of the other coral reefs of the world.
The atlas gives an idea of the health of the reefs through maps indicating their extent, distribution and habitat.
It is interesting that while the reef at Andaman & Nicobar Islands has almost recovered from the damage caused by the deadly tsunami of 2004, the coral reef in the Gulf of Kutch (GoK) are in a ‘degrading condition’. Incidentally, the GoK has the highest concentration of corals along mainland India.
India ranks tenth in the world in coral cover. Indonesia tops the list, followed by the Philippines and Australia. The atlas covers the coral reefs of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Giving a detailed map of the coral reef distribution between 25 degree north and 25 degree south latitudes, the atlas reveals some striking facts through a comparison with a previous study of 1987.
