Every week we maintain our two house reefs, as well as the Barnacle and Lotus, by removing predatory marine organisms. Without these damaging marine predators, corals, especially the younger ones, will have the opportunity to grow and flourish.

The harmful creatures include the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish and the Pincushion Sea Star. The Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, for instance, can cause untold damage to coral reefs because it feeds on coral polyps. As this species usually appears at night, Banyan Tree and Angsana staff dives after it gets dark to catch it. One has to be extremely careful when removing the creature from the reef, as it defends itself with extremely sharp and toxic spines that can break off and remain embedded in a person's skin.

Once a Crown-of-Thorns Starfish is caught, our divers bring it on land and bury it deep in the sand. They keep a record of every reef cleaning exercise in order to alert the resort of any unusual "outbreaks" of such species. It is valuable to know the exact site where the predatory organism was found, the species, size, age and depth. This information is analyzed by the marine conservation team and shared with the Ministry of Fisheries. 

Investment in Sandbags    
To protect the beach from erosion, Banyan Tree and Angsana invest some US$50,000 on sandbags annually. Each sandbag weighs about 40-60 kg wet; yet, the staff of both resorts painstakingly transfers these bags from one side of the island to the other twice a year, in response to the seasonal currents

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