Environmental Impacts of Tourism on Coral Reefs - A Case Study of Koh Sak, Thailand
Background
Back in 2003, a small research group at Mahidol University International College found interest on corals that exist at a small island of Koh Sak in the Gulf of Thailand. Primarily the interest came when we witness a consistent influx of tourist while corals habiting the island provide an ecosystem service to the locals and tourists. Regular visits to the island by the research group then follow to observe how tourism activities will effect the corals.
Findings
Initial preliminary investigations show major physical impacts to the corals. Transect work over the years 2003-2006 have shown a major decline in coral population. JS Pechsiri left the research group in 2006. However, during his PhD education, JS Pechsiri has advised several groups of students between 2010 and 2020 whom visited the island and made further investigations on the environmental impacts of tourism on such a small island. The projects with funded by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) with emphasis on the identification of environmental stresses from various tourism related processes and activities. Tools such as material flow analysis (MFA) and systems modeling were employed by the students (e.g. Lindström and Engström 2016).
Reference
Lindström, E. and Engström, A., 2016. Estimations of anthropogenic nutrient flows at the coral reef island Ko Sak, Thailand: A simplified source flow analysis.