escaped serious damage from the 2004 tsunami and should recover from it in less than 10 years. A larger problem will be local government's protection of marine ecosystems. Activities such as illegal dredging and building, blast and cyanide fishing, overfishing, bottom trawling and climate change, are likely to have more effect on the future of reefs and mangroves.

The December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami hit rural, coastal communities in 12 countries, leaving at least 216,000 people dead or missing and more than a million homeless. Research found that reefs in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the most damaged, some as much as o 30 percent in places.
Turtles were the animals most affected as they lost nesting sites in Thailand and India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, but they are beginning to find other beaches to nest on.