Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000
been functioning since 1997 under financial assistance from DFID UK. Another Node was
formed in the Indian Ocean for the island states of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius,
Reunion and Seychelles through the Indian Ocean Commission, with initial support from the
European Union and recently from the Global Environment Facility. The countries of Eastern
Africa are supported under the CORDIO programme (COral Reef Degredation in Indian
Ocean) including Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and eventually Somalia with
financial and logistical assistance coming from Sweden (SIDA) and the World Bank.
Five Countries of southeast Asia have all requested to remain as independent country
nodes (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand), whereas mechanisms are
being sought to provide assistance for Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam as a Node.
The Government of Japan has formed a Node for East Asian countries to assist China, Korea
and Taiwan from the International Coral Reef Research and Monitoring Center at Ishigaki
Island, southern Japan.
Nodes in the Pacific are consolidating. The IOI Pacific Islands Node assists Nauru, New
Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu from the University of the South
Pacific in Fiji with support from the International Ocean Institute. The Polynesia Mana Node
includes the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Tokelau, Tonga, and Wallis and Futuna with
coordination provided by the University of Perpignan marine station on French Polynesia
and financial support from France. The Micronesian countries (Federated States of
Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas and Palau) under the MAREPAC
consortium is functioning out of the Palau International Coral Reef Center. The Hawaiian
Islands and other US territories in the Pacific are members of the US Coral Reef Task Force
and are coordinated out of Hololulu.
Nodes in the Arabian Region remain to be resolved, but they were the topic of a meeting in
Saudi Arabia in February, 2000. There are two coordinating bodies – PERSGA (Programme for
the Environment in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden) and ROPME (Regional Organisation for the
Protection of the Marine Environment) which may take eventual responsibility for coordination.
The US Coral Reef Task Force is coordinating and financing US interests in the Caribbean
(Florida and other southern states, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands). The World Bank
coordinates the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef Project, which is effectively the GCRMN Node
for Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico for reefs on the Caribbean side. The
Government of Colombia is assisting in the formation of a Node for Brazil, Costa Rica,
Panama and Venezuela with Ecuador likely to join in the future. UNEP in the Caribbean has
provided start up assistance. Many of the remaining countries and states are being assisted
through centres of the CARICOMP network, including their database node in Jamaica at the
University of the West Indies. DFID UK is assisting in coordination of many of the small
islands states, likewise France is assisting with her territories as is the Netherlands.
Better understanding of the oceans and their resources to facilitate improved ocean
management and sustainable development will not be possible without the establishment
of routine ocean observing systems. This is the premise behind the Global Ocean
Observing System which is co-sponsored by IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission), WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) UNEP (United Nations
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