CORAL MINING AT MAFIA-ISLAND, TANZANIA - A MANAGEMENT DILEMMA

The mining of live corals for use as construction material is cited as a major cause of reef degradation in a number of tropical coastal nat ions. At Mafia Island, Tanzania, the biological effects of mining on t he reef benthos and associated fish communities were examined using SC UBA visual census techniques. Live coral cover on a mined site was fou nd to be one third of that found on the unmined site. On the mined sit e, fish abundance and diversity was found to be 42% and 24% lower, res pectively, compared with the unmined site. The loss of reef breakwater s through mining has led to the loss of shoreline and mangrove forest through increased erosion rates. By contrast the people of Mafia depen d upon coral mining for cheap housing material and a significant propo rtion of their income. Tourism is seen as a future source of income fo r the area, however, this activity is dependent upon relatively undama ged reefs. The management strategies proposed and tested for the Maldi ves and Sri Lanka are examined in the context of the Mafia Island situ ation and the recommended management strategy and successes to date ar e presented.