Lakshadweep’s stunning pictures mask the precarious state of its environment, particularly the coral reefs — making it important for the government to mandate and ensure responsible tourism practices and also continuously monitor the fragile ecosystem of the archipelago.

The Lakshadweep archipelago, comprising 35 islands (of which 10 are inhabited) has witnessed four major El Nino Southern Oscillation-related temperature anomalies in the past two decades (1998, 2010, 2016 and 2019), and three catastrophic cyclones in the last four years (Ockhi, Maha and Tauktae) resulting in widespread coral bleaching and mortality, the Lakshadweep Research Collective, a team of ecologists and marine biologists said in a letter to then-president Ram Nath Kovind in 2021, responding to the administration’s publication of the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation of 2021(LDAR).

The group, 60 scientists and researchers, asked the President to withdraw the draft LDAR 2021 which sought to develop the islands as a major tourist destination, underlining that the region’s unique geography, ecology, and long human history placed natural limits on the kinds of development the archipelago can support. The draft has been put on hold since, but the constraints remain the same — something that needs to be kept in mind at a time when interest in Lakshadweep as a tourist destination is peaking.

But the reef is under threat.

A 2018 research paper published in Springer Journal found that recovery rates of affected reefs was gradually declining. “This has resulted in a 40% decline in absolute coral cover in the last two decades from 51.6% in 1998 to 11% in 2017,” the study, led by researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation, said.

Fortunately, the 2023 El Nino event did not see any large-scale bleaching in Lakshadweep corals according to ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute which is monitoring the reefs.

A significant factor contributing to coral recovery is the healthy reef fish population, as local fisheries primarily target Skipjack tuna rather than reef fish. Unlike many tropical reefs in developing nations, which are heavily impacted due to overfishing, Lakshadweep serves as a promising example of how less exploited reefs can have higher resilience capacity, Sreenath said.

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