Indonesian conservationist Nyoman Sugiarto has been working to conserve coral on Bali’s reefs for 16 years, but he says the frequency of mass coral bleaching events has reached devastating levels.
Ninety percent of the corals Sugiarto had been tending to on the reefs near his village in Bondalem, on Bali’s northern coast, lost their color last December.
“It was completely white. We were shocked and of course it also had a negative effect on the coral that we had planted. It’s not just the natural ones,” Sugiarto, 51, told reporters.
When Sugiarto began coral conservation projects in 2008, he was told that coral could retain the living algae that give it color for 10 to 20 years.
Yet the coral reefs at Bondalem have bleached in less than 10 years, he says, blaming higher sea temperatures caused by climate change.
Coral bleaching occurs when coral expels the colorful algae that live in its tissues. Without the algae, the coral becomes pale and vulnerable to starvation, disease, or death.
In April, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that more than 54% of ocean reef areas are experiencing heat stress due to bleaching. This is the fourth global case of bleaching in the past 30 years.
Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism shows that Indonesia has approximately 5.1 million hectares of coral reefs, accounting for 18% of the world’s total coral reefs.
According to Marthen Welly, marine conservation advisor at the Coral Triangle Center, the coral bleaching in Bali in late 2023 was mainly caused by rising sea temperatures as a result of the El Niño phenomenon that hit Indonesia.
Indonesia experienced its worst dry spell since 2019 last year due to El Niño.
While corals in Indonesia are more resilient and tend to recover faster, Marthen said this will not be enough to withstand rising ocean temperatures.
“Coral bleaching is predicted to become more frequent, at current temperatures between one and two years,” he said, citing the latest research from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Sugiarto, however, says he is determined to continue his coral conservation campaign. He is advocating for coral conservation among younger Indonesians and seeking funds to establish a village community to monitor illegal fishing.
“We believe we have a duty to monitor the sustainability of marine life, particularly corals,” he said.
