VZCZCXRO7268
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHNE #1242/01 1280706
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070706Z MAY 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1622
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 1963
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2150
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 2853
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001242 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/ENRC, OES/ENV, OES/OA, AND SCA/INS 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
INTERIOR FOR FRED BAGLEY AND MINI NAGENDRAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV IN
SUBJECT:  CORAL REEFS IN INDIA'S NATIONAL MARINE PARK:  DROWNING IN 
A SEA OF SEDIMENT 
 
 
NEW DELHI 00001242  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  EmbOffs recently traveled to India's Gujarat 
state and met with the Director of the Marine National Park, Mr. 
D.S. Narve, in order to discuss the condition of the park's coral 
reefs, the United States' position as the co-secretariat of the 
International Coral Reef Initiative, and the effect of 2008 being 
declared the International Year of the Reef.  A field visit revealed 
the park's corals, as well as the entire ecosystem, were highly 
threatened by sediment deposits coming from dredging operations in 
Kandla Port.  A separate meeting with the Senior Coordinator of the 
World Wide Fund for Nature's Marine Program in India revealed the 
state of the park's corals was not nearly as rosy as portrayed by 
Director Narve.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Marine National Park (MNP) encompasses 162.89 sq.kms and 
is located along the southern boundary of the Gulf of Kutch, an 
extension of the Arabian Sea surrounded on three sides by Gujarat 
state.  MNP is home to a wide variety of species including both hard 
and soft corals, sponges, jelly fish, dolphins, dugongs, and sea 
turtles.  It was declared a National Park in 1982 making it the 
first protected marine environment in India.  However, what 
protection it currently enjoys is not nearly enough to conserve this 
fragile ecosystem. 
 
------------------------------- 
STATUS OF MARINE NATIONAL PARK 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Unlike India's land-based National Parks, which suffer 
greatly due to intense pressure from India's burgeoning population, 
MNP has almost no direct population pressure.  Conservator of 
Forests and Director of MNP, Mr. D.S. Narve, stated the reason for 
this was that Gujaratis, and Northern Indians in particular, are a 
terrestrial people with little interest in the sea barring certain 
fishing communities.  He stated that while MNP did see some local 
tourism, access to the reefs was difficult and that tourism had not 
had a major impact.  In addition, the land directly adjoining much 
of MNP is not sufficient to sustain large populations.  EmbOffs 
traveled to an inter-tidal region of MNP near Positra and noted the 
complete absence of people and almost no land based pollution or 
litter.  In an area of approximately four square kilometers, EmbOffs 
found nothing more than a single discarded potato chip bag and two 
tangles of monofilament fishing line.  In India, where both trash 
and people are essentially everywhere, this is remarkable. 
 
¶4.  (U) During the field visit, Director Narve's staff did 
everything possible to demonstrate to EmbOff's the alleged rich 
diversity of MNP.  They were able to locate and point out a few fish 
and crab species and a reasonable amount of both plate and small 
brain coral although nothing compared to what is found in a healthy 
inter-tidal zone.  In addition, all of the coral was covered by 
heavy deposits of sediment which, according to Narve, originated in 
dredging operations in Kandla Port located on the north coast of the 
Gulf of Kutch.  He noted the currents in the gulf run clockwise from 
north to south bringing any sediment deposited in the northern half 
of the gulf directly to MNP.  When asked whether anyone had 
suggested depositing the spoils from the dredging on land or in a 
less ecologically sensitive location in the sea, Narve stated the 
issue had never been addressed.  Narve also said his office had had 
no dealings with any NGOs interested in protecting MNP. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In addition to sedimentation due to dredging, EmbOffs 
raised the issue of the refineries of Indian Oil, Essar Oil, and 
Reliance Industries located near MNP.  Narve stated there has never 
been a problem with the oil industry negatively impacting the marine 
ecosystem.  When asked about the results of the relocation of over 
three hundred coral reefs necessitated by the laying of an undersea 
oil pipeline by Essar Oil directly through MNP in 2005, Narve stated 
the relocated corals were doing well and that the project, paid for 
by Essar and carried out by scientists of India's National Institute 
of Oceanography, was a great success. 
 
¶6.  (U) Narve welcomed U.S. leadership on reef conservation and 
praised U.S. efforts as co-secretariat of the International Coral 
Reef Initiative.  He stated he was looking forward to attending the 
11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale in July 
2008 and that U.S. assistance for reef conservation in India was 
most welcome.  When asked to elaborate further on the threats to 
MNP, Narve maintained that dredging at Kandla Port was the main 
threat along with siltation due to the loss of coastal mangroves. 
He pointed out his office was active in planting new mangroves, 
which EmbOffs noted in the field visit to Positra, but that there 
was little he could do about the dredging issue.  He dismissed 
concerns over illegal fishing and said that coral mining had been 
 
NEW DELHI 00001242  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
completely halted over the last few years. 
 
------------------- 
THE NGO PERSPECTIVE 
------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) In a follow-on meeting, EmbOffs discussed the state of MNP 
with Fahmeeda Hanfee, the Senior Coordinator of the Marine Program 
at the World Wide Fund for Nature - India.  Ms. Hanfee was very 
frank in stating that awareness of the need for marine conservation 
was not well developed in India and echoed many of the sentiments of 
Director Narve   that Indians were a terrestrially focused people. 
She stated the fact that 2008 had been declared the International 
Year of the Reef was essentially unknown in India and that few would 
care if it was publicized.  Drawing a contrast with terrestrial 
conservation in India, she noted the dozens of NGOs involved with 
tiger conservation but stated there were virtually none dedicated to 
marine issues.  She said WWF-India itself did not have a significant 
coral reef program and that their marine activities were currently 
focused on sea turtle conservation.  She did note that India's 
National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) was very active in studying 
coral reefs and that her contacts at NIO had informed her that over 
60 percent of the coral species relocated by Essar Oil in MNP had 
died.  She also stated there was real concern among marine 
biologists of a potential oil spill in MNP and that the threat of 
the oil industry to the marine ecosystem could not be discounted. 
Finally, she confirmed that her information was the same as Director 
Narve's, that sediment from dredging at Kandla Port was choking the 
coral in MNP. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) While it comes as no surprise that Director Narve put the 
best possible spin on the situation in MNP, readily admitting he 
directed his staff to take us to one of the most pristine locations 
in the park, the reality on the ground was evident to see.  Although 
there is still a living ecosystem visible in the inter-tidal zone 
near Positra, the lack of species and the fact that the entire area, 
including all of the coral, was covered in thick sediment, 
demonstrates a strong need for better conservation beginning with 
changing the dredging practices at Kandla Port.  Embassy New Delhi's 
ESTH office will seek opportunities to engage Government of India 
and Gujarat state officials in order to address the issue. 
 
MULFORD