Coral reefs are referred to as the “rainforest of the sea”; their translocation is important for ecological and economic reasons. In UPSC Prelims, questions on this topic have been asked previously; therefore, understand its significance and related terms for your UPSC Current Affairs.

Coral colonies and giant clams will be translocated from Galathea Bay as part of environmental mitigation from the transhipment port proposed at Galathea Bay as part of the Great Nicobar Island (GNI) mega project, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has said.

But what exactly is coral translocation? Why are coral reefs considered among the most valuable ecosystems on Earth? What is this GNI mega project?

1. ZSI informed this development to the committee overseeing the implementation of biodiversity-related issues during the fourth meeting in November last year. The minutes of the meeting were made public by the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corporation Ltd (ANIIDCO) only on June 10.

2. ZSI has identified “four new translocation sites on the west coast of Great Nicobar Islands and undertake the translocation of coral colonies and Giant Clams from the project impact area as per EC (Environmental Clearance) and CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) clearance conditions prior to the commencement of project works”.

3. In compliance with the condition for granting Environmental Clearance, an environmental management plan is implemented.  In this regard, three independent Monitoring Committees are formed. These are:

(a) Committee to oversee biodiversity-related matters.

(b) Committee to oversee pollution-related matters.

(c) Committee to oversee welfare and issues related to Shompen and Nicobarese.

4. The biodiversity-related committee is tasked with overseeing wildlife conservation plans and actions to mitigate the project’s impact on the endemic Nicobar Megapode, leatherback marine turtles, saltwater crocodiles, Nicobar Macaque, Robber Crab, coral translocation, and other birds found only on the island.

Commonly known as the “thermometer bird”

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

Appendix I of CITES

Galathea Bay is one of the most crucial nesting sites globally for the leatherback sea turtle.

Comprising fewer than 250 mature individual

IUCN Red List: Endangered

Appendix II of CITES.

Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

(Source: IUCN Red List, ZSI)

Before we move to understand coral translocation, let’s understand what coral reefs are.

5. Corals are animals from the phylum Cnidaria. They comprise hundreds to thousands of living organisms called polyps, each only a few millimeters in diameter. Each polyp has stinging tentacles to capture food such as plankton and small fish. It lives in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps known as a ‘colony’, which is recognised as coral.

6. Corals are characterised as either hard or soft coral. The architects of coral reefs are hard corals, which form complex three-dimensional structures over thousands of years.

7. At the coral base is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which forms the structure of coral reefs. Reefs begin when a polyp attaches itself to a rock on the seafloor, then divides, or buds, into thousands of clones. The polyp calicles connect to one another, creating a colony that acts as a single organism.

8. The reason for the colorful appearance of corals is the microscopic algae that live inside coral cells, called zooxanthellae. These algae perform photosynthesis, bringing vital food and nutrients to the corals.

In India, coral reefs are protected in the same way as the tiger or elephant, under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972.

1. ZSI is dedicated to monitoring coral reef translocation. For restoration purposes, it successfully moved over 16,000 corals in the Gulf of Kachchh to new locations. In a project in the Andaman Islands since 2017, ReefWatch Marine Conservation has transplanted coral fragments on to nine artificial structures totalling a 20 square metre area.

2. In a three-year-long project in Sindhudurg, corals were cultivated — fragments of corals were taken and attached to concrete frames with the help of nylon threads — and then left on ocean beds at a depth suitable for their growth.

3. Some experts are of the view that for a high survival rate, it is important to translocate corals in a place with similar environmental characteristics such as depth, current flow, amount of light, and pressure.

1. In February 2026, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) cleared the way for the government’s Rs 81,000-crore Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, noting its “strategic importance” and observing that there were “adequate safeguards” in the project’s environmental clearance.

2. Great Nicobar Island covers 910 sq km and is home to India’s southernmost location, Indira Point.

3. The government’s main goal on the island is to create an economic and defence hub. This goal rests on four pillars:

4. Initially driven by NITI Aayog, the project’s implementing agency is now the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corp Ltd (ANIIDCO).

5. Of the cumulative area earmarked for the project, around 149 sq km will be used for the integrated township, 8.45 sq km for the new airport, 7.66 sq km for the port and .39 sq km for the power plant. The integrated township will include residential, commercial, tourist, logistics and defence facilities.

6. The transshipment port will be located on the southern tip of Great Nicobar at Galathea Bay, an ecologically important area that is home to the nesting sites of Leatherback turtles, and where the Galathea River drains into the sea.

(1) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2018)

1. Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.

2. More than one-third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.

3. Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(2) Which of the following have coral reefs? (UPSC CSE 2014)

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands

2. Gulf of Kachchh

3. Gulf of Mannar

4. Sunderbans

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(b) 2 and 4 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

(Note: Coral reefs require pristine, clear sunlight, high salinity to grow. However, at Sunderbans influx of river sediments create muddy and low salinity conditions.)

     Answer Key

(Sources: Coral reefs damaged: What’s the big deal?, How corals off Mumbai’s coast will be moved, As NGT clears Great Nicobar project, a look at its strategic importance and ecological fallout, 4 sites on Nicobar west coast identified for coral translocation, says Zoological Survey of India)

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