Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000
distributed thickets of branching Acropora, whereas the other Marine Park Zones
are dominated by table Acropora. The Marine Parks Center of Japan has a coral
reef research station on one of the islands.
• Amami Islands Quasi-national Park, managed by the Kagoshima Prefectural
Government. This park has 9 Marine Park Zones, including 5 on Amami-Oshima
Island, 1 on Tokunoshima Island and 3 on Yoron Island. Each is located in the
moat or channel. Yoron Island has a wide moat with much branching Acropora.
Some ancient raised reefs are also present.
• Okinawa Coast Quasi-national Park, managed by the Okinawa Prefectural
Government. There are 3 Marine Park Zones: 1 on the main island of Okinawa with
a wide moat and an underwater observatory; and 2 on the Kerama Islands, where
the reef flats are poorly developed. However, the reef margins are covered with
table Acropora and have high coral cover, making their undersea scenery excellent.
• Marine Special Zone in Sakiyamawan Nature Conservation Area, by the EAJ;
Marine Special Zone (Nature Conservation Areas under the Nature Conservation
Law) on Sakiyama Inlet. This is a coral reef on the western coast of Iriomote
Island and is 128 hectares of coral reef without any land. It includes a large
colony of Galaxea fascicularis and seagrass beds, mainly Enhalus acoroides.
• International Coral Reef Research and Monitoring Center, constructed and
managed by the Okinawa Regional Office for EAJ Japan established for coral
reef monitoring for South East Asia at the ICRI regional meeting in 1997 at
Okinawa. In 2000, the Environment Agency opened the International Coral Reef
Research and Monitoring Center at Ishigaki Island, to coordinate research for
better coral reef conservation.
The Environment Agency of Japan established the International Coral Reef Research and
Monitoring Center as an East Asian Seas node for the GCRMN at Ishigaki Island, Okinawa in
May 2000. The Center started monitoring coral reefs in the area, developed a database on
coral reef information; and formed a community framework for conservation. Some
monitoring of coral communities around Japan has been carried out by the Environment
Agency as the National Survey on the Natural Environment since 1978 with data collected
on distribution, area, dominant genera and including growth forms.
There are problems with the protected areas with coral reefs, particularly as the total
protected area is 1943.5ha in 24 units. This is a small area for conservation compared to the
total area of Japan and the amount should be re-examined to assess the appropriateness of
existing areas and seek the designation of more areas. The most important issue to resolve
in the near future is to minimise disturbance to reefs from land based activities, especially
sediment and pollution runoff, and over-fishing.
Taiwan
Encouragingly, the Taiwanese Government and scientists are promoting conservation and
sustainable use of the coral reefs by establishing marine protected areas (MPAs). Currently,
a proposal for implementation of MPAs is under discussion within government.
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