- Toamasina, a coastal city in eastern Madagascar, is surrounded by an extensive network of coral reefs that are home to near-threatened species.
- For decades, these reefs have been under threat from an unusual activity: The use of coral in the construction of septic tanks.
- Mongabay spoke with Abraham Botovao, a boat skipper and the president of a local fishers’ association, who has been closely monitoring this trade and its impact on the local marine environment.
- “It frustrates me every time I see them when I’m out fishing, but unfortunately all I can do is watch without being able to do anything,” Botovao said.
TOAMASINA, Madagascar — Abraham Botovao, a boat skipper and the president of the Association of Progressive Fishers of Toamasina, has become accustomed to seeing an unusual activity while out at sea. Every day, people in boats plunder a local reef for hundreds of kilograms of coral to sell at the market. There, locals buy the coral in large blocks to use in building septic tanks.
Toamasina, located around 350 kilometers (220 miles) east of Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, is one of the country’s main coastal cities, with a population of around 529,500. It’s also home to Madagascar’s largest and most important port, which handles 90% of the country’s international trade.
The city is surrounded by a series of coral reefs: Hastie Reef, Bain des Dames Reef, Grand Reef, Petit Reef, and the reef at L’île aux Prunes, an island known locally as Nosy Alanana. The corals on these reefs include near-threatened species such as Pavona decussata, P. cactus and Acanthastrea brevis, according to Jean Maharavo, a marine biologist and vice president of the NGO Tany Ifandovana, which is working to transplant corals slated for destruction by the port’s expansion to L’île aux Prunes.
Like most of the world’s tropical reefs, these corals are under threat from bleaching due to global warming. However, those on the east coast of Madagascar are relatively unaffected by this phenomenon, compared with reefs in the Mozambique Channel on the west coast, according to WWF. Despite this, Toamasina’s corals are under considerable anthropogenic pressure, from both unregulated fishing and harvesting for building material.
While corals are protected and valued as biodiversity treasures in many parts of the world, in Toamasina they’re harvested and used instead of volcanic pumice to treat wastewater in septic tanks. Typical septic tanks have three chambers, the last of which is lined at the bottom with coral. The coral acts as a filter, trapping solid particles from the wastewater that passes through the first two chambers. The filtered water is then discharged into the city’s sewage system. According to Marcelin Sabotsy, a local fisher and member of the association Botovao leads, all types of coral are collected, even stinging ones.
This unusual trade fuels a flourishing market, where a cubic-meter (35-cubic-foot) block of reef, enough for a standard septic tank, can sell for as much as 50,000 ariary ($11), according to Andrianjaka Solofoniaina Razafindrakoto, a septic tank builder. That’s around half a month’s rent for a small apartment in the area. Razafindrakoto told Mongabay this type of septic tank has been used in the region for a long time, contributing to the ongoing destruction of the reefs.
To find out more, Mongabay interviewed Botovao in April at Tany Ifandovana’s office, the day after a visit to the NGO’s coral transplant site. Botovao, who works part-time as a skipper for the NGO, safely brought the Mongabay team back to port despite an unexpected storm on the way to L’île aux Prunes.
Our discussion was rounded off with a visit to the market where corals are sold, and to Razafindrakoto’s home to see how the septic tanks are built. At the market, corals are sold alongside sand and gravel. Tarpaulin covers keep them from drying out, the sellers told us. However, the vendors were cautious following a recent police raid, and only revealed their wares upon request. The Mongabay team posed as potential buyers at the bustling market to get a closer look.
The following interview was translated from Malagasyand has been lightly edited for clarity.
Mongabay: How did the harvesting and selling of coral for septic tanks begin in Toamasina ?
Abraham Botovao : As far as I know, it has been going on for several decades, but it began to flourish in the 2000s. There is a well-established network involved. Those harvesting the coral head off to the Grand Récif in pirogues with tools like the large iron bars used to remove asphalt from roads. They use these bars to break off large blocks of reef, which they bring back to shore.
A fully loaded pirogue can carry up to 500 kilograms [1,100 pounds]. If the weather is good and there’s not much wind, they can easily fill the pirogues. In good weather, up to 10 pirogues can go all the way to the Grand Récif. When the weather is not so good, they leave with their pirogues half-full.
They are always sure to find buyers, many of whom are regulars. These buyers then resell the coral at the Ankirihiry Market, along Ralaimongo Boulevard, alongside other building materials such as sand and gravel. Sometimes, the amount harvested depends on specific orders from buyers — sometimes there are a lot of them, sometimes not. Some sellers also stockpile coral and do not necessarily sell their goods at the market, as they have regulars who go to them directly.
Mongabay : Why are these corals used for toilets? Is there any particular benefit?
Abraham Botovao : Coral is used in toilets because there is nothing else to replace it with, at least as far as the eastern region of Madagascar is concerned. Indeed, very few people are familiar with the volcanic rocks used in the central regions. These have only recently started to be sold in Toamasina, and people aren’t used to them yet. The general feeling is that there is nothing more effective than coral for septic tanks.
Mongabay : Is there anything you have seen that has particularly shocked you about this type of activity?
Abraham Botovao : A fisher friend of mine once told me a story about his uncle that shocked me. He used to fish for octopus at a specific stretch of reef. One day, when he went to his usual spot, the reef was gone, so he came back empty-handed.
On the way back, he ran into a seller who told him that someone had taken that part of the reef and brought it to shore. The uncle told the seller he was sure there were still octopuses inside it, and that he would find whoever had taken it. After tracking them down and inspecting the reef, there really were octopuses still inside! This goes to show that when these blocks of reef are sold at the market, they can contain living animals.
Mongabay : What makes this business so lucrative?
Abraham Botovao : Harvesting or selling corals is technically illegal, but the activity goes on all the same because nobody is punished or sanctioned. It frustrates me every time I see them when I’m out fishing, but unfortunately all I can do is watch without being able to do anything. When the weather’s good, they can haul up to 5 metric tons of coral in a single day!
What’s worse is that it’s not even fishers who are doing this, but anyone with basic navigation skills. As fishers, we know what is at stake. We know that fewer corals mean fewer fish. And the problem is that most people, especially the government, think it is us when it’s not. If a fisher is involved, it is very rare, maybe one in 100 fishers. But because of this activity and other factors like overfishing, it’s clear that there are a lot fewer fish than there once were in the area.
At the same time, those harvesting the coral and those selling it know it’s forbidden, but they do it anyway because they have no choice. They need the work. The number of harvesters has risen sharply in recent times due to the widespread and growing poverty in Madagascar. [Madagascar has one of the highest poverty rates in the world. Between 2012 and 2022 the urban poverty rate increased, while the national rate remained persistently high, according to the World Bank.] I also think that the demand for coral has grown since the government started raising awareness about the need to build toilets with septic tanks to improve sanitation in the city.
Mongabay : What is the government doing about this situation?
Abraham Botovao : The government is in a rather delicate position, because if they fully enforce the law banning the sale of coral, what will they offer all these people as an alternative? In my opinion, it suits them that these people have jobs, even if it’s not good [for the marine environment].
I think they should have taken action when it first started, but not now that so many people depend on it for their livelihoods. They sometimes raid the market to scare off or intimidate the sellers, but the sellers come back as soon as they leave. So far, there hasn’t really been any meaningful response to the situation.
Banner image: The Tany Ifandovana coral transplant site on L’île aux Prunes, an islet near Toamasina, after one year’s growth. Image courtesy of Jean Maharavo.
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This story was first published here in French on Oct. 15, 2024.
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