Address: 9-22 119st College Point NY 11356
jcervino@whoi.edu
917-620-5287

As a marine scientist focused on coral health and disease, I was fortunate enough to spend time and conduct research at Wakatobi Dive Resort in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. These coral reefs are located in the epicenter of coral biodiversity, and are among the very few locations within the tropics that have been unharmed by global warming. This is due in part to its distinct location and the unique oceanographic conditions that bring cool, upwelled water to the surface. I am writing this letter approximately four years since my last trip to Wakatobi, and since then, I have continued to research coral health throughout the Caribbean and Pacific.

The high diversity of corals, optimal coral health, and wide variety of reef and fin-fish in Wakatobi is superior to any other location I have visited in the tropics, and my research has taken me to many, many reefs during the past 20 years. Part of this localized success is due to the educational and environmental protection efforts put forth by the owners and eco-operators at the Wakatobi Dive Resort. Wakatobi has an almost pristine coral reef framework at all diving locations, which far exceeds what one could imagine. I can assure prospective visitors to Wakatobi that the coral reefs are worth seeing, and I urge my fellow scientists to visit this location in the next decade so that they can get an idea of what the reefs appeared like 150 years ago.

This location serves as my control site (healthy study site, providing a model for what a flourishing reef looks like. Tropical corals are very sensitive to environmental stress, and the pristine corals surrounding Wakatobi provide an optimal baseline for scientists to compare with locations where corals are suffering from global warming and land sources of pollution. In short, this is what a healthy and vibrant coral reef should look like.

In large part, the health of these reefs is due to the care and respect the resort's owners have for the surrounding coastal zones. The Wakatobi Dive resort is the only one on the island, and they have created a truly sustainable development scheme that protects the coral habitat. Only a handful of operators and owners around the world understand the sensitivity of the habitat they are coexisting with, and Wakatobi's leaders are among them. A few simple, logical steps were taken during the early stages of the development. Among them: instituting a waste-water treatment system that uses biological recycling treatments to prevent nutrients from getting into the water. Evidence that this simple technology is working can be seen during a three-minute walk along the beach. Healthy and productive eel grass populations surround the entire resort and appeared to be in excellent condition as of my visit. These marine plants are very sensitive and can easily become smothered in algae if nutrient concentrations are excessively high, as occurs in many waterfront resorts where treated sewage water is piped back into the ocean. A similarly positive sign - or lack thereof - is that invasive algae species are absent from surrounding beaches, eel grass beds and corals. This lack of invasive algae - which also smother corals -- is scientific proof that Wakatobi Dive Resort's nutrient recycling plan is working.

Thank you for your continued commitment to a healthy marine environment.
Best regards,

Dr. James M. Cervino

Address: 9-22 119st College Point NY 11356
jcervino@whoi.edu
917-620-5287

During a recent scientific analysis of coral reef health within a small Southeast Sulawesi island chain, we became aware of one resort - the world-renowned 'Wakatobi Dive Resort' - that has managed to control a ferocious coral killer known as macro-algae. This is a hugely significant accomplishment considering that weedy algae are every reef's nightmare, smothering and killing corals and inhibiting the establishment of new baby corals to replace them.

Almost every dive resort in the tropics economically benefits from the vibrant corals along their coastline, yet the overwhelming majority of resort owners are unable to prevent their reefs from becoming at least partially smothered with macro-algae. One problem is that nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and sewage eventually leach underground and out onto the coral reefs, and these are the very nutrients that fuel algal growth. Coral reefs function best in low-nutrient waters, so this is a serious dilemma. Another problem is fishing on the very reefs that tourists come to see. Indeed, the tourists may literally be eating other peoples' dive vacations. In addition to removing the big predators so exciting to encounter on a dive, fishing can cause a reduction in the herbivores that keep the reef clean and coral-covered by eating weedy algae. A noticeable increase in nutrient pollution and decrease in herbivores may be occurring at many dive resorts, causing increased coral mortality and decreased biodiversity.

At Wakatobi Dive Resort, where the reefs are among the world's most diverse and pristine, Founder and President Lorenz Mäder and colleagues developed a simple method to prevent the wastewater nutrients from reaching the reef. Mäder, who studied biology before entering the dive industry, knew he could fight the problem by reducing nutrients in the wastewater to an extremely low level before it enters the ocean. The Resort management designed a three-tank decomposing system in which each tank contains a variety of decomposing bacteria, and the wastewater flows between the tanks in stages. In the first and second tanks, the wastewater is exposed to gravel and decomposing bacteria, allowing for oxidation (breakdown) of the waste. In the third tank, the waste is broken down further, lowering the nutrient concentration. The waste is then flowing into a leach field 50 meters from the beach, where tropical trees and plants happily consume the nutrients and thereby keep them off the reef. Guests cannot even tell that the leach field exists, since it has grown into a lush garden and emits no odor. Divers at Wakatobi can see for themselves that the system is working: the sea grasses and corals directly in front of the resort are free of this smothering algae, our analysis showed.

This straightforward and effective method could be applied in dive resorts worldwide to preserve their reefs from one of many coral killers including man induced dynamite and cyanide fishing. The team at Wakatobi prides itself for developing an environmentally sustainable relationship with the local peoples on the island. Lorenz has provided free electricity for local residents - in return they honor an established fish breeding and reef sanctuary at the resort island and refrain from cyanide and dynamite fishing in the whole area.

Due to the implementation of protected areas from destructive fishing methods, proper land use management and no-take fishing zones, the diversity of reef fishes remains high at Wakatobi. Recently, Les Kaufman of the Boston University Marine Program in Woods Hole, MA, visited Wakatobi as part of a National Geographic team. Les reports that the Wakatobi reefs "are among the most beautiful and pristine that I have ever been privileged to study. In a single two-hour dive I counted 301 species of reef fishes just a few finflips from the dock, meaning that Wakatobi Dive Resort's house reef has one of the most diverse reef fish communities on earth right at its doorstep. Coral and seagrass communities are in excellent condition for being so close to several villages and a luxurious dive resort. Wakatobi is a beacon in the industry, warning others away from the rocks on which less thoughtful enterprises have met their doom."

Dr. James M. Cervino