Antara 30 Nov 09;
Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Of 13,330 hectares of coral reefs in South Kalimantan, some 530 hectares have been damaged by sedimentation and pollution.
Based on a study conducted by the South Kalimantan environmental agency and the provincial fishery and maritime service, most of the damaged coral reefs were covered by coal, Rakhmadi Kurdi, head of the South Kalimantan environmental agency said here on Monday.
"The Bunati coral reef area is currently in poor condition as many of the corals have died due to sedimentation and coal," he said.
Apart from Bunati, coral reefs in Batulicin and Tanah Laut coastal areas were also damaged or died, he said.
Almost all rivers in South Kalimantan experienced sedimentation and the muds later went into th sea, he said.
About the pollution caused by coal, he explained that companies usually washed their barges carrying coal in beaches.
"Therefore, I have asked concerned district authorities to ban washing barges in sea because it is violation of the law," he said.
Another factor which caused coral damages in the province was stealing of corals by villagers who later sold the corals.
In Indonesia, the death-rate of coral reefs is fairly high among other things because of human activity to bomb the fish. A report said that the damage and the death of coral reefs reach 40-45% from the coral reefs area of 1.5 million hectare.
