Banda Aceh – The deep blue sea on Indonesia’s westernmost frontier holds both breathtaking beauty and painful history. In the waters around Weh Island and Sabang, coral reefs have suffered from decades of destructive practices, blast fishing, coral harvesting for souvenirs, and anchor damage. These threats were compounded by mass coral bleaching events in 2010 and 2016, which wiped out nearly 50% of shallow-water reefs in Aceh.
Faced with these mounting threats, Professor Nu from Syiah Kuala University (USK) emphasizes the urgency of sustained restoration and monitoring to rehabilitate degraded marine ecosystems
According to Prof. Nu, coral restoration should never be reduced to a one-time planting activity. Instead, it’s a long-term commitment. Monitoring is key to answering a critical question: Is the ecosystem truly recovering?
USK’s monitoring framework is divided into three stages:
- Short-term: up to 12 months
- Medium-term: 1–5 years
- Long-term: over 5 years
Unfortunately, the reality in Indonesia paints a concerning picture: only 16% of 533 restoration projects included post-planting monitoring (Razak et al., 2022).
Prof. Nu calls for goal-oriented monitoring, covering:
- Ecological restoration outcomes
- Socio-economic impacts
- Responses to disturbances (e.g., bleaching or storms)
Through extensive research and collaboration, USK is advancing locally appropriate yet innovative approaches:
- Modified Coral Rubble
- Coral rubble often becomes a “killing field” for coral juveniles due to constant movement.
- USK creates 3D rubble structures to stabilize the substrate and provide suitable planting media.
- This method works best in waters with good quality, but not in highly eutrophic (nutrient-rich) areas prone to algal overgrowth.
- ARUSK – Artificial Reef Structures by USK
- Custom-designed structures created to rehabilitate marine habitats.
- Partnership with Rubiah Tirta Divers (RTD) in Sabang
- USK students participate in monitoring and maintenance for up to 3 years.
- Results: coral cover increased by up to 60%, and over 40 fish species were recorded utilizing the restored reef.
- Development of AICOM (AI Coral Monitoring)
- In 2023, USK and BKPSPL Padang launched AICOM, an AI-based app to measure coral fragments and monitor growth.
- Key features:
- Fragment measurement via underwater photos
- Coral cover analysis (in development)
- Collaborations are ongoing with Reef Check Indonesia and Yayasan Terangi.
- How to build public awareness?
Community engagement takes time, cultural understanding, and demonstrated results. Educational outreach is crucial, especially in village-based programs. - Does AICOM require photo standards?
Yes. Photos must follow specific distance and angle standards to ensure accurate measurements. Images can then be uploaded and analyzed automatically. - Can AICOM detect coral cover like CPCE or CoralNet?
That feature is still under development. The goal is to enable fully automated coral cover assessment, eliminating the need for manual input—similar to CoralNet.
Coral restoration goes far beyond planting coral fragments. It requires long-term monitoring, local technological innovations, community involvement, and cross-sectoral collaboration. Through USK’s efforts, Aceh is demonstrating that Indonesia can lead coral restoration efforts, with a combination of scientific rigor, local wisdom, and strong community engagement