Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Executive Summary
tourism development along with traditional uses through different ‘tenure’ and zoning
measures. Either way, there is a strong need for coordination and cooperation between
operational and funding agencies to expand the area of reefs under protective management.
Coral reefs are generally sustainable, self-repairing systems that recover when conditions are
suitable and there is an adequate supply of larvae. However, there may be instances when
rehabilitation is warranted. Consideration should be given to applying practical and lowcost
rehabilitation methods where recovery is not proceeding normally, but such methods
must be effective at the scale of the damage, and not local ‘band-aid’ gimmicks.
The traditional rights and management practices, where they are still practised or remain in
the memory, need to be recognised and incorporated into the codified laws of states and
regions. This would be assisted by scientific validation and re-drafting of state laws to
include co-management provisions over coastal and marine areas. Currently many valuable
traditional practices for conservation of coral reef resources are being eroded under the
combined force of codified state and international law. For example in Samoa, traditional
rights and customs have been written into the fisheries regulations providing village
communities, through their chiefs, the right to manage their coral reef resources and apply
punishment to offenders who violate village areas and their proclaimed MPAs.
There is an ongoing need for the provision of legal advice and assistance as part of
developing economic policy to ensure a balance between conservation and development.
Many laws in most countries were developed during colonial times and focussed on
sectoral rather than integrated management, and the short term rather than the long-term
e.g. optimising harvests of fishery and forestry resources. Calls have been made to assist in
redrafting national and state statutes to remove considerable multi-sectoral overlaps in
jurisdiction over coastal resources and ensure sustainable use of these resources, including
establishment, control and enforcement of MPAs.
There was strong general concern that global climate change had the potential to destroy
the coral reefs of many countries of the world, which are making minuscule contributions to
the emissions of greenhouse gases. All countries requested assistance in assessing the
potential future impacts of GCC on their coral reefs as well as energy alternative
programmes. Many made pleas to the larger developed countries to curb their emissions,
so that their coral reefs and often the countries will survive into the future.
FUTURE PREDICTIONS FOR CORAL REEFS
Predictions were made in 1992 that in 10 to 20 years, another 30% of the world’s coral
reefs could be added to the 10% that were effectively destroyed, if urgent management
action was not implemented. While these figures appeared alarmist, recent events show
that they may be conservative. In the early 1990s, there was little organised monitoring to
observe reef decline and to determine the causal relationships. Estimates suggesting that
30% of the world’s reefs were not under anthropogenic stress were an underestimate, as
large areas of deeper coral reefs have been identified that were not visible in satellite
images of the Indian, and Pacific Oceans and South China Sea. Those dire predictions
appeared extreme until the 1998 mass bleaching event struck; an event not anticipated in
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