4 Years After Tsunami, Coral Reefs Symbolize Renewal

BANGKOK, Dec. 26 -- Southeast Asia's tsunami-ravaged coral reefs have bounced back with surprising speed, according to a study released Friday, four years after the deadly waves hit.

The findings came as communities across the Indian Ocean remembered the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster with prayers, songs and tears. About 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries when a magnitude-9.0 earthquake triggered the tsunami.

Surveys of coral reefs after the tsunami showed that up to one-third were damaged, and experts predicted that it would take a decade for them to fully recover.

Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, working with the Indonesian government and the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said their examination of 60 sites on 497 miles of coastline along Indonesia's Aceh province showed that the reefs were bouncing back.

"On the fourth anniversary of the tsunami, this is a great story of ecosystem resilience and recovery," said Stuart Campbell, coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesia Marine Program.

"Our scientific monitoring is showing rapid growth of young corals in areas where the tsunami caused damage, and also the return of new generations of corals in areas previously damaged by destructive fishing," Campbell said in a statement. "These findings provide new insights into coral recovery processes that can help us manage coral reefs in the face of climate change."

Healthy coral reefs are economic engines for Acehnese communities, Campbell added, supplying fish to eat and sell as well as tourism dollars from recreational diving.

The tsunami decimated coastlines across the Indian Ocean, wiping out villages, killing entire families and crippling the economies in parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The United Nations estimated that Aceh alone lost $332.4 million from the damage to its reefs.

But four years on, the multibillion-dollar rebuilding process is almost complete, with more than 120,000 homes built in Aceh and the reconstruction of tourist hotels and restaurants along Thailand's Andaman coast.

Thousands gathered Friday to celebrate the progress but also to remember the dead and reflect on a tragedy that turned lives upside down.

"I don't think people will ever forget the tsunami. It changed a lot of people's lives," said Alisara Na-Takuatung, a local Phuket radio disc jockey who took part in a ceremony on Thailand's Patong Beach attended by 200 people.