Study Finds Tourism Could Help Reverse Coral Reef Decline in Sanur, Bali

Sanur, a coastal town on the Lombok Strait where the Pacific Ocean meets the Indian Ocean, has been a destination for artists and travelers since the 1920s. Its economy continues to rely heavily on visitors drawn to its beaches and warm waters, which are home to diverse tropical marine life.

New research, however, signals serious trouble for those marine ecosystems. Coral reefs in the area are steadily deteriorating despite repeated attempts at rehabilitation through coral fragment planting and the installation of artificial reefs. The study, published in Ocean & Coastal Management, found that restoration initiatives in Sanur frequently proceed without first addressing the primary drivers of coral loss, such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge.

"People see the visible impact on the coral reef, so they feel it's urgent to do something about it there," said Min Chung, lead author and a master's student at the University of Tokyo. She noted that addressing the more fundamental drivers of coral loss would be more efficient and effective.

Competing interests and governance gaps

Chung and her colleagues analyzed reef health data and conducted interviews with 18 stakeholders involved in the use and management of Sanur's reefs. These included government agencies, local authorities, community organizations, academics, fishers and tourism operators. The research identified complex and competing interests among these groups, with stakeholders holding differing views on whether reefs should be treated as tourism attractions, fishing grounds, sources of coastal protection or blue carbon.

According to the study, the crowded governance environment produces overlapping responsibilities and poor coordination, resulting in duplicated efforts, wasted resources and slow, bureaucratic decision-making. The study describes the outcome as "decision paralysis," in which collective energy fails to translate into action. Ecological analyses within the study found that what were once extensive branching reefs have been reduced to rubble fields covered in algae, with nearshore snorkeling sites showing worse degradation than less-frequented offshore areas. An earlier study on southern Bali recorded a 38% decline in coral cover between 2010 and 2023 in tourism-heavy zones.

Interviewees connected tourism to a range of harmful effects, including swimmers breaking corals, tour boats anchoring on reefs, and tourism facilities discharging wastewater into coastal waters. At the same time, most interviewees said the tourism industry offers a practical avenue for promoting, funding and implementing reef recovery, provided revenues are reinvested into conservation and governance structures are strengthened.

What an integrated approach would require

Chung said reef restoration and beach cleanups remain important tools, but must be supported by coherent decision-making that prioritises what reefs genuinely need to recover. The study calls for improved wastewater treatment, stronger marine spatial planning, tighter regulation of boating and anchoring, and clear codes of conduct for visitors. Such an integrated approach, it says, would help shift evaluation away from individual projects toward their contribution to system-level change.

Sanur is not the only tourism destination facing these pressures. A 2022 review of more than 500 coral reef restoration projects across Indonesia over three decades found that many failed due to inadequate governance and insufficient long-term monitoring.

Zach Boakes, co-founder and reef scientist at North Bali Reef Conservation, who was not involved in the study, said it provides a thorough framework for understanding how threats and management actions interact, and highlights the paradoxical role tourism plays in reef conservation. "Tourism represents both one of the greatest pressures on Bali's reefs and one of its greatest opportunities," he said, noting that tourism has made Bali a global hub for coral reef restoration by drawing financial support from dive operators, resorts, NGOs and international visitors.

Boakes said tourism businesses should be treated as conservation partners rather than problems, as many operators have a direct economic interest in maintaining healthy reefs. He also cautioned that highly visible interventions like coral planting tend to attract more donor support than less visible measures such as wastewater treatment and pollution control, despite the latter delivering greater long-term ecological benefits. "Planting corals provides an immediate and tangible conservation action... However, restoration should not be viewed as a substitute for addressing the underlying causes of reef decline," he said.

Boakes also called for monitoring programs to include indicators of ecosystem health such as herbivory, carbonate production, bioerosion and nutrient cycling, rather than focusing solely on coral cover. This aligns with conclusions reached by reef scientists, conservationists and community leaders at the 16th International Coral Reefs Symposium in New Zealand, who agreed to prioritise managing reefs for resilience. Those attendees also warned that climate change remains the biggest global threat to coral reefs, even where effective local protection programs are in place.

"If problems such as poor water quality, untreated wastewater, coastal development and climate change continue, restoration risks becoming a short-term band-aid rather than a long-term solution," Boakes said. "Successful restoration ultimately depends on improving the environmental conditions that allow reefs to persist naturally."