Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Southeast and Central Pacific Coral Reefs ‘Polynesia Mana Node’
MARINE MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
Complementary to, or as part of the marine protected and/or fishery management areas and
legislation, there are various types of ‘marine management plans’ now being established for
some areas of French Polynesia. These are typically based on key partners reaching
consensus on lagoon activities e.g. numbers of fishermen, sharing of facilities, permitted
fishing equipment, and hotel activities. These are essentially a bottom-up decision making
process with co-management interventions through government. These marine area plans
need to be coordinated with land management plans to realistically form integrated coastal
zoning plans. All countries have or are in the process of developing National Environment
Management Strategies (NEMS) which highlight involvement of local communities. These
have usually been done with assistance from SPREP and other regional governmental and
non-governmental assistance organisations.
REGIONAL CONVENTIONS
Several conventions have been developed by UNEP and SPREP that are relevant to coral
reef conservation in this node. All countries have ratified the following conventions:
The Apia convention (1976) on conservation of nature in the South Pacific promotes
protected areas to preserve examples of natural environments. It came into force in 1990;
The Noumea convention (1996) started in 1986 and came into force in 1990. It focuses on
the protection of natural resources and the environment with protocols on dumping at sea
and control of pollution emergencies.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
• Most countries have ratified the following international conventions that have
relevance to coral reef conservation, in particular countries associated with France
(French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna) and New Zealand (Cook Islands, Tokelau);
• Ramsar wetlands convention (1971) concerning the conservation of migrating
bird populations. While there are no Ramsar sites in these countries, there is
increasing interest in listing selected coral reef areas for wildlife goals;
• Paris convention (1972) or World Heritage of UNESCO; however there are as yet
no sites covered by this convention in the region;
• Washington convention (1973) or CITES on endangered species of wild fauna and
flora designated to control international trade in species listed in two annexes;
• Bonn convention (1979) on conservation of birds, but including also marine
mammals and turtles;
• Rio convention (1992) or UNCED Convention on Biodiversity.
MONITORING
There is a variety of monitoring programmes throughout this Node. In the Cook Islands
there is a programme to monitor water quality, coral cover and fish and invertebrate
abundance in some lagoons. It started in 1996 and developed in 1998 to cover 9 of the 15
islands. In French Polynesia there are many monitoring programmes for water quality
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