CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION IN MU KOH CHANG
NATIONAL PARK, THAILAND

Nipat Somkleeb*, Nisit Ruengsawang, Makamas Sutthacheep,
and Thamasak Yeemin
*Marine Biodiversity Research Group, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science,
Ramkhamhaeng University, Huamark, Bangkok 10240 THAILAND
E-mail: somkleebn@hotmail.com



Mu Koh Chang is located in the eastern part of the Gulf of Thailand or the west
coast of the South China Sea, near the border between Thailand and Cambodia. There
are over 50 Islands in the area which harbor approximately 16 km2 of coral reefs. The
Thai Government has paid much attention to Mu Koh Chang and declared it as a
special administrative zone for sustainable tourism development in 2002. An estimated
30% of the coral reefs are within the area of jurisdiction of Mu Koh Chang National Park
which was established in 1982. Mu Koh Chang was selected as one of the
demonstration sites for the coral reef subcomponent under the UNEP/GEF Project on
Reversing Environmental Degradation Trends in the South China Sea and Gulf of
Thailand. The causal chain analysis of Mu Koh revealed that major threats of coral reefs
were sedimentation from infrastructure development, impacts from expansion of tourism
business and unskilled divers, impacts from il egal fishing, coral reef bleaching and
storms. The project has focused on networking among stakeholders for better co-
ordination between government agencies, private sector, NGOs and local communities
during the planning, operation and evaluation phases to strengthen co-management of
all activities in the area and to reduce any obstacles to project implementation. The
significant activities implemented include raising public awareness and education
programs, networking among stakeholders, sustainable tourism development, capacity
building programs, support of sustainable livelihood, and improvement of site
management to support coral reef restoration. Demonstration site activities for coral reef
restoration have been conducted in certain localities. The project aims to raise
community awareness on coral reef issues and their roles to improve coral reef
management and sustainable uses. The project also included impact mitigation
designed to accelerate natural coral reef recovery. Major activities are: i) monitoring
coral reef conditions in both ecological and socio-economic aspects; ii)mapping
additional coral reef areas; iii) developing a demonstration project of coral reef
restoration by using coral fragments and natural recruitment; iv) monitoring and
controlling land-based pollution; v) training and assigning particular staff from relevant
agencies concerned with coastal development; vi) establishing coral reef and marine
organism GIS database; vii) supporting research on mariculture of economically
important marine organisms. Success of implementation of the management and
restoration model could be transferred and applied to other coral reef sites.

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