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Coral reefs at risk of being wiped out in western Indian Ocean

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/27

Some of the world’s most picturesque coral reefs are at risk of being wiped out in the next 50 years, said a report by The Guardian.

The report said: A combination of overfishing and climate change threatens these ecosystems of the western Indian Ocean, putting species, economies and human lives on the line.

A swathe of the world’s coral reefs are at high risk of collapse as climate change and overfishing take their toll.

A team of international scientists found that all the reefs of the western Indian Ocean, an area covering Africa’s east coast as well as islands such as the Maldives, are at risk of ecosystem collapse and irreversible damage in the coming years.

As well as being an ecological catastrophe, a collapse of these reefs would also be a humanitarian disaster for the region, with many residents dependent on the reefs for their food and income.

Dr David Obura, the lead author of the study, says, ‘We’ve known for some time that coral reefs are in decline, but now we know more precisely to what degree, and why. This assessment reaffirms the urgency of the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises addressed by COP26 last month in Glasgow, and COP15 in a few months in Kunming.

‘We need to take decisive action to address both global threats to corals from climate change, and local ones, such as overfishing.’

The study, led by scientists at Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) was published in Nature Sustainability.

The Indian Ocean is the world’s third largest ocean, spanning from the east coast of Africa to the western shores of Australia.

Due to its position along the equator, it is home to almost half of the world’s coral reefs, primarily around Indonesia, Australia and India.

However, the western half of the ocean still has a significant amount of biodiversity, with countries such as Madagascar, Mozambique and the Seychelles estimated to each have hundreds of species of coral.

These support a wealth of fish, with island nations like the Maldives having over a thousand species found in their waters. Fisheries are incredibly important to the region’s economy to such an extent that if these seas were a country, they would represent the fourth-largest economy in the western Indian Ocean.

The reefs also provide food security for the people that live in the region and provide added benefits as a draw for tourists.

However, the exploitation of the ocean has led the fragile ecosystems found there to the brink of collapse. Fishing from both countries within and outside the region is one of the leading causes, followed by oil extraction and climate change.

To assess the state of these corals, they were assessed using the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Ecosystems. While similar to the red list for animal species which assesses their vulnerability to extinction, it instead asks how close the ecosystem is to collapse.

The answer was that the region’s reefs are perilously close to the edge.

The scientists compiled their report by splitting the reefs across the western Pacific into 11 sub-regions, running north up the east coast of Africa from Kenya to South Africa and east to the island states of the Seychelles and Mauritius.

Each area was assessed individually for its status, allowing the researchers to know the state of around 5% of the world’s reefs.

They found that all sub-regions were at risk of collapse, with reefs around island nations with unique biodiversity, such as the Comoros and the Mascarene Islands, assessed as Critically Endangered.

The same assessment was given for east and south Madagascar, though its north and west coasts were found to be less threatened and judged instead to be Endangered.

The greatest threat to these island reef systems was climate change, which is causing ocean temperatures to rise in the shallow waters in which tropical corals thrive. Rising temperatures put the corals more at risk of bleaching and being unable to recover.

The situation was better on the continental African coast, where the entire stretch was assessed to be Vulnerable. Here, overfishing was found to pose the greatest threat to the reefs.

‘We detected overfishing of top predators on all the reefs from which we had data,’ said co-author Mishal Gudka. ‘These results highlight the need to improve local fisheries management to ensure the health of reef systems and secure sustainable fish stocks, which support jobs for a quarter of a million people in the region.’

The scientists hope that similar assessments will be carried out for the rest of the world’s reefs using the same framework they have, providing a stocktake of the world’s coral. By knowing the state of these ecosystems, the scientists hope that politicians will take the necessary steps to pull coral reefs back from the brink.

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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the Districts of Badulla, Kandy, Matale, Monaragala and Nuwara Eliya

Published

11 hours ago

2026/01/7

Priyan

The Landslide Early Warning Center of the the National Building Research Organaisation [NBRO] has issued landslide early warnings to the districts of Badulla, Kandy, Matale, Monaragala and Nuwara Eliya for a period of 24 hours effective from 1200 noon today [07th January].

Accordingly,
LEVEL III RED landslide early warnings have been issued to the divisional secretaries divisions and surrounding areas of Udadumbara in the Kandy district, and Nildandahinna and Walapane in the Nuwara Eliya district.

LEVEL II AMBER landslide early warnings have been issued to the divisional secretaries divisions and surrounding areas of Kandaketiya in the Badulla district, Wilgamuwa in the Matale district, and Mathurata and Hanguranketha in the Nuwara Eliya district.

LEVEL I YELLOW landslide early warnings have been issued to the divisional secretaries divisions and surrounding areas of Meegahakiwula, Lunugala, Welimada, Passara, Badulla and Hali_Ela in the Badulla district, Doluwa in the Kandy district,Ambanganga Korale in the Matale district, and Bibile in the Monaragala district

News

Prez seeks Harsha’s help to address CC’s concerns over appointment of AG

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, told Parliament yesterday that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had personally telephoned him in response to a letter highlighting the prolonged delay in appointing an Auditor General, a vacancy that has remained unfilled since 07 December.

Addressing the House, Dr. de Silva said the President had contacted him following the letter he sent, in his capacity as CoPF Chairman, regarding the urgent need to appoint the constitutionally mandated head of the National Audit Office. During the conversation, the President had sought his intervention to inform the Constitutional Council (CC) about approving the names already forwarded by the President for consideration.

Dr. de Silva said the President had inquired whether he could convey the matter to the Constitutional Council after their discussion. He stressed that both the President and the CC must act in cooperation and in strict accordance with the Constitution, warning that institutional deadlock should not undermine constitutional governance.

He also raised concerns over the Speaker’s decision to prevent the letter he sent to the President from being shared with members of the Constitutional Council, stating that this had been done without any valid basis. Dr. de Silva subsequently tabled the letter in Parliament.

Last week, Dr. de Silva formally urged President Dissanayake to immediately fill the Auditor General’s post, warning that the continued vacancy was disrupting key constitutional functions. In his letter, dated 22 December, he pointed out that the absence of an Auditor General undermines Articles 148 and 154 of the Constitution, which vest Parliament with control over public finance.

He said that the vacancy has severely hampered the work of oversight bodies such as the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), particularly at a time when the country is grappling with a major flood disaster.

As Chair of the Committee responsible for overseeing the National Audit Office, Dr. de Silva stressed that a swift appointment was essential to safeguard transparency, accountability and financial oversight.

In a separate public statement, he warned that Sri Lanka was operating without its constitutionally mandated Chief Auditor at a critical juncture. In a six-point appeal to the President, Dr. de Silva emphasised that an Auditor General must be appointed urgently in the context of ongoing disaster response and reconstruction efforts.

“Given the large number of transactions taking place now with Cyclone Ditwah reconstruction and the yet-to-be-legally-established Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund, an Auditor General must be appointed urgently,” he said in a post on X.

By Saman Indrajith

News

Govt. exploring possibility of converting EPF benefits into private sector pensions

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

The NPP government was exploring the feasibility of introducing a regular pension, or annuity scheme, for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributors, Deputy Minister of Labour Mahinda Jayasinghe told Parliament yesterday.

Responding to a question raised by NPP Kalutara District MP Oshani Umanga in the House, Jayasinghe said the government was examining whether EPF benefits, which are currently paid as a lump sum at retirement, could instead be converted into a system that provides regular payments throughout a retiree’s lifetime.

“We are looking at whether it is possible to provide a pension,” Jayasinghe said, stressing that there was no immediate plan to abolish the existing lump-sum payment. “But we are paying greater attention to whether a regular payment can be provided throughout their retired life.”

Jayasinghe noted that the EPF was established as a social security mechanism for private sector employees after retirement and warned that receiving the entire fund in a single installment could place retirees at financial risk, particularly as life expectancy increases.

He also cautioned that interim withdrawals from the EPF undermined its long-term sustainability. “Even the interim payments that are given from time to time undermine the ability to give security at the time of retirement,” he said, distinguishing the EPF from the Employees’ Trust Fund, which provides more frequent interim benefits.

Addressing concerns over early withdrawals, the Deputy Minister explained that contributors have been allowed to withdraw up to 30 percent of their EPF balance since 2015, with a further 20 percent permitted after 10 years, subject to specific conditions and documentary proof.

Of 744 applications received for such withdrawals, 702 had been approved, he said.

The proposed shift towards an annuity-based system comes amid broader concerns over Sri Lanka’s ageing population and pressures on retirement financing. While state sector employees receive pensions funded by taxpayers, including EPF contributors, the EPF itself has been facing growing strain as it is also used to finance budget deficits.

Jayasinghe said the government’s focus was to formulate a mechanism that would ensure long-term income security for private sector employees, placing them on a footing closer to a pension scheme rather than a one-time retirement payout.