Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Protect our coral reefs




By NALAU BINGEDING

There is now intense debate for and against the deep-sea mining proposed for the Bismarck and Milne Bay waters. Civil societies, the public, customary land owners and sea owners, academics and university students argue that the environmental cost of the deep-sea mining is unknown and could be catastrophic therefore the proposal should be shelved for now.
Nautilus Minerals Limited (Nautilus) on the other hand is adamant that it has spent millions of dollars exploring the sea floor of the Bismarck Sea and will mine the seabed regardless of concerns raised on the environmental consequences of the mining on marine ecosystems. Moreover, Nautilus is determined to see PNG become the first country in the world to use state-of-the-art technology to do deep-sea mining because it has been given the green light to do so by the PNG government.
 Neither side is willing to throw in the towel. Therefore funds are being raised right now by civil societies and the public to take the matter to court so that justice is done and the deep-sea mining proposal is shelved for now. Nautilus on the other hand is organizing public forums to appease public outcry and attempt to find a way forward.
In 2009 the Department of Environment and Conservation on behalf of the PNG government adopted a 10-year Regional Action Plan to protect coral reefs and other marine ecosystems through the Coral Triangle Initiative. The initiative included Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and PNG. Through the initiative these countries agreed to support people-centered biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, poverty reduction and equitable development. 
However, the very department that signed the Coral Triangle Initiative to protect coral reefs and marine ecosystems has now issued environmental permits for Nautilus to do deep-sea mining in the Bismarck and Milne Bay waters. This action now contradicts what was agreed under the Coral Triangle Initiative and compromises the department’s position as the regulator of the environment in PNG and questions whether the department has the heart to protect the country’s coral reefs and marine ecosystems.
PNG has a coral reef area of some 14,000 km2, and ranks second to Australia (48, 000 km2) in terms of coral reef area if we exclude countries like France and others who have colonies with discrete populations of coral reefs.  Much of the coral reefs in PNG occur within the Bismarck and Milne Bay waters and generally remain intact and in good health.
Reef-building corals have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship - one organism depends on the survival of the other - with a microscopic, one cell algae species called zooxanthellae. The algae species produces oxygen, helps the coral to remove waste, and supplies the coral with carbohydrates for coral reef growth. In return, the coral reef provides the algae a protected environment and other compounds that are necessary for photosynthesis. This symbiotic relationship is so important that sedimentation of the ocean and any changes in the ocean’s temperature and pH (acidity or alkalinity) can adversely affect coral reef growth and health.
It is now known that due to the build-up of man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the world’s oceans now take in one-quarter of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is acidifying the world’s oceans and the zooxanthellae populations are being expelled from the coral reefs due to high levels of carbonic acid in seawater. Consequently, the coral reefs cannot survive without the zooxanthellae and many can starve to dead. Dead of large areas of coral reefs, usually exposed skeletons that have a white color, is known as coral bleaching. The impact of ocean acidification is not pronounced at the moment in the Pacific, but this will gradually increase in the near future.
Global warming is also responsible for warming of the world’s atmosphere and the ocean surfaces. Thus the warming of the world’s ocean surfaces has resulted in bleaching of coral reefs in some parts of the world. In the Pacific the warming of the oceans through global warming has not had any profound effect, but it is predicted that these impacts will be more pronounced in the near future.
Mining of the ocean floor in the Bismarck Sea threatens our coral reefs due to the prospect of further acidification of the oceans. It is now known that substantial damage will be done on the ocean floor. Excavation of the ocean floor will involve digging up of volcanic mounts and breaking down of 15 – 20m tall hydrothermal vents. Consequently, tons of rocks and sediments will be pumped up to ships on the sea surface in the form of slurry.
Excavation of the ocean floor will result in a change in the pH of the water column at the excavation site. Chemical elements buried beneath sediments and within rocks will be exposed to the seawater due to the damage that will be done. As a result chemical reactions will take place between the stirred sediments and broken surfaces of the excavated rocks, thus the ocean’s pH will be altered.
From basic science one understands that a diffusion gradient is created when particles move from a high concentration area to a low concentration area. Thus if the excavation on the ocean floor turns the seafloor water column acidic due to the chemical reactions that will take place, a diffusion gradient will be created horizontally, laterally or vertical through the water column. Consequently the Bismarck Sea could turn acidic and endanger our populations of coral reefs.  This combined with the looming threats posed by climate change through warming of the ocean surface and the acidification of the oceans through uptake of excessive made-made greenhouse gases from the atmosphere can cause massive bleaching of our coral reefs. Thus this threatens the survival of all other species (including man) that inhabits the Bismarck Sea and beyond.
One other effect of excavation on the ocean floor is the proliferation of certain microorganisms through change in pH of the water column. Certain microorganisms depend on temperature and pH of the water to be conducive for their exponential growth. At a certain pH and temperature, these organisms exist in small numbers, but once the conditions become conducive for their proliferation they reproduce exponentially for a certain period. Then the population decreases and levels off when food sources are depleted or the environment is no longer conducive for their reproduction.
Such a case occurred with ocean dredging for sand to reclaim land from the sea in Japan a few years ago. In the attempt to reclaim land from the sea in a seaside city in Japan a few years back, the ocean floor was dredged for sand. However, the dredging caused damage to the sea floor and released sediments and chemical elements buried beneath the sand into the ocean water column. This action changed the pH of the seawater column and as a result it created an environment that was conducive to the growth of a certain microorganism. These microorganisms then reproduced exponentially and were dispersed vertically, laterally and horizontally through the sea water column due to underwater currents.
As these microorganisms were swept by underwater currents towards the shoreline, they infected populations of seashells. Consequently, the seashells died and were washed ashore by underwater currents and the waves, with hundreds of tons of seashells littering the shoreline and the smell of rotting seashells could be inhaled some kilometers away. This was an environmental disaster.
Although ocean dredging for sand in Japan was done at depths not comparable to that proposed for the deep-sea mining in the Bismarck Sea, there is a high probability for such an environmental disaster to occur. Excavation on the ocean floor can change the pH of the seawater column and create an environment conducive for certain microorganisms to proliferate. Then these microorganisms will have to be dispersed through the water column due to underwater currents or the effect of a diffusion gradient. Thus these microorganisms can create environmental disasters if they infect higher organisms like seashells.   
Much of PNG’s coral reefs remain intact and in good health at the moment. Therefore, these populations of coral reefs need to be protected at all cost for the livelihood of our coastal populations. Moreover, the PNG government has signed a treaty under the Coral Triangle Initiative and has the obligation to protect these coral reefs and the ecosystems that exist therein. Therefore, any action contrary to supporting people-centered biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, poverty reduction and equitable development can only mean that the government is more interested in money from mining and has no concern for its own people and the very environment that their very lives depend on.
Nalau Bingeding is a Research Fellow in the Land and Economic Division within the Wealth Creation Pillar at the National Research Institutehttp://www.facebook.com/n/?groups%2F210718705711207%2F&mid=6c3525eG20735b4fGb104cdbG15&bcode=LNVAbcrL_1.1348031792.AaSvo9N3YuUm0lzr&n_m=magun.wences%40gmail.com

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Turtle tagging and Monitoring, Madang


7-11th November 2012

Report compiled by Job Opu

Background

Many beaches and near shore reefs along the coastal areas of PNG are home to marine turtles. While turtle conservation programs have been initiated in a few parts of PNG, large areas although significant in nature lack turtle conservation programs. It is in these areas that local consumption of turtle for eggs and meat go on without saving some of these turtles and eggs.
Mas Kagin Tapani Inc., a local CBO based in Madang began mobilising communities in Madang in 2007 to save the critical endangered leatherback turtles that were nesting on their beaches. These beaches are situated to the northern side of Madang towards Bogia.
The first Turtle Conservation workshop was organised by the Makata Inc and hosted by the Karkum Community of Madang. The workshop ran from September 19th – September 23rd 2009 and the target audience of the workshop included Madang community members and representatives from Community based organisation. There were 40 participants at this course. This workshop introduced participants to basic marine biology, turtle tagging and monitoring, developing work plans to address turtle conservation and education and awareness on turtle conservation and other marine issues.
A second workshop was undertaken in Magubem Village, Madang with a total of 40 participants and ran from the 1st – 6th of October 2012..
This training workshop was the second of its kind and a follow-up of the activities and interests generated so far in turtle conservation and management with the Madang Communities. The Communities have indicated that they wish to go one step further in turtle conservation and begin to develop action plans to tag and monitor nesting turtles during the nesting season. Hence this training workshop was carried out to meet their requirement.
This follow-up trip was basically to take the theory and put it into practical by patrolling the nesting beaches to tag turtles and document data.


Day 1. 7th November 2012
The marine turtle specialised arrived at Magubem Village at 2.00pm from Port Moresby via Madang. He met with Peter, Chairman of Gildipasi CBO. They arranged to meet with the rest of the beach rangers from the main 4 communities the next morning.
Meanwhile plans were made to begin the exercise later that evening. The specialist then briefed Peter and a few selected field rangers from Magubem Community to start patrolling the nesting beaches that night.
Equipment were then checked and laid out. These included the following:
• Turtle tags and applicators
• Turtle datasheet and clipboards. Pencils.
• Torches and batteries
• Measuring tapes (3 mtr in length)
• Raincoats (in the event of rain)
The Magubem team started the patrol at 8.00pm and ended at 2.00pm. The weather was overcast and there was slight drizzle.
No nesting turtles were encountered. However the team came across the tracks of a green turtle. It seem the green turtle came and did some crawls on the beach but did not nest. We believe the sand substrate was too hard with some small pebbles hence no nesting took place.
Further on down the beach the team came across an old leatherback nest which has been dug up by some locals and eggs taken. The nest seems to be about a month old.
At 1.30pm the drizzle was getting bigger and heavy drops of rain were felt, hence the team had to abandon the patrol at 2.00am and head back to Peter’s hamlet (where the team were housed).

Day 2. 8th November 2012
On day 2 the specialist and the beach rangers gathered at the Magubem Community hall and the specialist went over turtle tagging and monitoring protocols for the team The following topics were covered:
• Sites for beach patrols
• Turtle species to target– Leatherback turtle and green turtles
• Tagging methods and the part of the turtle to tag.
• Demonstration on use of tags and applicator
• Turtle data sheets


The session lasted the whole morning with questions and answers and clarification on all aspects of the turtle research. At the end of the session the team felt that it was ready to undertake beach patrols and start turtle tagging and monitoring program.

After the overview of the above topics the equipment were brought out and divided into the 4 major beach groups corresponding to their area and beach.

The team then left for their respective areas. The teams made a commitment to begin their programs at night.
The Magubem team (with the turtle specialist) were to cover the nesting beaches that came under the Magubem community, However this did not eventuate as there was heavy rains beginning in the afternoon and lasting all night. The heavy rains stopped the team from going out at night to patrol the beaches.


Day 3. 9th November 2012
Early the next day, the sun was shining so the Magubem team including the specialist took a walk along the nesting beaches to check if any turtles came up to nest. After a long two kilometre walk along the beach no signs of nesting were noted on the beach, hence we concluded that no turtle came up to nest on the beach last night.
After checking the beach the team went back to basecamp and went over notes and tagging equipment.
Later on in the afternoon the team prepared for another beach patrol.
After dinner and equipment check the team left for the beaches at about 8.00pm.
The team started at the mouth of River Dibor and walked northwards along the beach. There was almost 100% cloud cover hence no stars were noted. The tide was coming in and huge waves were pounding on the beach
The team spend about 8 hours on the beach patrolling up and down. However no turtles were encountered.
At about 4.00am in the morning the team decided to call it a night and headed back to the base camp.

Day 4. 10th November 2012
On the morning of the fourth day the beach rangers met again and had a review of the past nigh activities.
Plan was again made to coordinate work with the other beach rangers from the other groups so they could patrol in synchrony throughout their own beaches and meet at a central point through the night so that this would ensure all sectors of the long beach was covered.
Turtle information and beach census data from the research work onwards will be collated and sent to the turtle specialist to document and report on.
The specialist then left for the Madang.

Conclusions

In conclusion, expected outputs of this trip were partly achieved.
Material and equipment for the “turtle tagging and monitoring” program for the communities were divided equally among the 4 major communities corresponding to the number of group of beach rangers as well.
The rangers were also taken again through the protocols of tagging and monitoring and documentation of turtle data. The principles were reinforced amongst the beach rangers.
The turtle specialist led patrols at night with the beach rangers to give them experience of observation nesting turtles at night.
The only setback was that the team did not encounter any nesting turtles during the short visit by the specialist. This would have been an opportunity to actually witness tagging as all beach rangers have never witnessed let alone tagged and compiled data on a turtle before.Marine Species Specialist, Job Opu conducting turtle tagging and monitoring exercise in Dibor, Madang. Long term tagging and monitoring exercise can be done if we are adequately supported. We therefore call on relevant government agencies and partner organisations to come to our assistance to make this exercise successful and sustainable.