At a two-day workshop titled "Dynamics Trend of Coastal and Marine Environment of Gujarat and Developmental Pressure" ,organised by the city-based Gujarat Ecological Society, he said Gujarat with the longest coastline of around 16,000 kms, had attracted highest foreign investment as compared to other states. Now with the the Gulf of Kutch expecting more than 50 per cent of the large-scale investment in the chemical and petrochemical sectors, the southern shore had become ecologically more sensitive as compared to its northern part, he said.

"Only 30 per cent of 40 species of corals are reportedly now found in the southern part of Kutch. This could be due to various pressures including felling of mangroves, fishing practices and some reason yet unknown. A very productive environment has thus been reduced to a great extent," he said. "It takes several years for coral reefs to form and once the coral reefs are gone it is very difficult for them to grow again," he added.

He said, in order to avoid massive environmental stress in the foreseeable future, it is very important for various lobbies to enhance integration and coordination efforts. It is also important to discuss all this with the policy makers by continuous updating of the databases, he said. "Continuous updating of data collected by various departments is important to refine the entire learning process required for decision making policies," he added.

"There will be a great environmental stress on Jamnagar district where the National Marine Park is located. The monitoring activities alone may not improve the environmental condition if there is no proper coordination between the various structures such as industries, stake holders and environment lobbies," said Prof Desai.

He said none of the lobbies could work in isolation since decision-making policies 'specifically' in the Gujarat coastal region are inter-dependent. "There is an oceanography department, industrial department, fisheries department and the forest department associated with Gujarat coastal line," he said.