Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

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Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000 1992. Many remote pristine reefs were devastated from shallow waters down to depths exceeding 30 metres. Hopefully these reefs are not destroyed and will recover if severe bleaching events do not become regular occurrences. The authors of the regional reports were asked to examine those 1992 estimates. The table below presents a grim picture in the Wider Indian Ocean, in Southeast and East Asia and the Caribbean/Atlantic regions. However, vast expanses of reefs in the Pacific and off the coast of Australia are in reasonably good health with a positive prognosis for the future; unless global climate change events re-occur like those in 1998 (and in 2000 near Fiji and the Solomon Islands). The bleaching was caused by the combination of extremely calm conditions during the 1997-98 El Niño-La Niña events, coupled with steadily rising baseline of sea surface temperatures in the tropics (increasingly attributed to greenhouse warming). These two factors drove temperatures in parts of the tropics to higher values than have been recorded in the last 150 years. Year of Prediction Reef % Reef % Reef % at More reef % destroyed destroyed critical stage, threatened, pre 1998 in 1998 loss 2-10yr loss 10-30 yr 1992 - Guam 10 - 30 30 1998 - Reefs@Risk - - 27* 31* 2000 0 Arabian Region 2 33 6 6 Wider Indian Ocean 13 46 12 11 Australia, PNG 1 3 3 6 South & East Asia 16 18 24 30 Wider Pacific Ocean 4 5 9 14 Caribbean Atlantic 21 1 11 22 Status 2000 Global 11 16 14 18 *The R@R process determined these numbers by statistically assessing predicted threats to existing reefs, and did not include coral bleaching as a threat. This is a compilation of current losses and predictions for the regions as mean values, after weighting for reef areas detailed in the Reefs at Risk report of 1998. The losses in 1998 should be regarded as temporary, as many of these reefs should recover, provided that major bleaching stresses are not repeated frequently. The 2-10 and 10-20 year periods for the predictions are to complement the 1992 predictions that reefs classed as either critical or threatened would be irreparably degraded unless the stresses are removed and relatively large areas are set aside as MPAs. These grim estimates for large areas of the world indicate that efforts to conserve coral reefs should to be increased, most probably through the establishment of a network of Marine Protected Areas covering many coral reefs with full community and government comanagement involvement. Conservation efforts in small areas are being undermined by damaging activities in adjacent un-managed oceanic or terrestrial areas. The major human threats to coral reefs can be managed by providing alternative livelihoods and education to people on the adjacent land. Unless these threats are managed and mitigated, reefs will continue to degrade with the inexorable increase in human populations and pressures. If predicted rates of greenhouse gas emissions continue and these are confirmed as the trigger for global warming, shifts in global climate like the El Niño-La Niña phenomenon of 1997-98 will recur with increased severity and frequency. Coral reefs which are recovering, will be set back by recurring bouts of coral bleaching and mortality. An additional climate 18
Executive Summary problem is looming as corals will probably grow more slowly with more fragile skeletons due to increases in CO 2 concentrations in sea water. Physiological restrictions will prevent corals escaping global warming by retreating into deeper water or occupying higher latitudes when tropical waters become too warm. The time required for recovery from the recent extreme mortality event to form reefs with similar levels of high coral diversity will be long because few adult colonies remain to provide larvae for new settlement. Poor management of human activities on reefs will slow this recovery. Over-fished reefs are frequently overgrown with large fleshy algae that prevent coral recruitment. Moreover, the recovered reefs will have different coral community structures, dominated initially by slow growing massive corals. Repeat bleaching events within the next 20 to 50 years will reverse any such recovery. Already the world has lost 11% of coral reefs and a further 16% are not fully functional. Most of these should recover, except possibly for those in already stressed areas. Coral reefs will not become extinct in the immediate future, but there are likely to be major changes in the composition of coral communities and reductions in harvestable products. Corals have survived for millions of years of major climate change events, meteor strikes and changes in solar activity and somehow recovered. However, the time frames for those recoveries were long; often many thousands of years and well outside short-term human interests. Reefs will probably recover somewhat from the current bouts of anthropogenic and climate change degradation, but it is likely that worse is yet to come and we will probably experience significant reductions in the cover and health of coral reefs, and major losses in biodiversity. It is therefore imperative that globally coordinated actions are implemented soon to manage and conserve these ecosystems of global heritage value for present and future generations, and for peoples and cultures whose livelihoods depend on reef resources. 19
Page 1 and 2: Status of Coral Reefs of the World:
Page 3 and 4: FOREWORD Over the past few years, I
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTS COUNTRIES, STATES AND TERR
Page 7 and 8: COUNTRIES, STATES AND TERRITORIES A
Page 9: Countries, States and Territories T
Page 19 and 20: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CLIVE WILKINSON T
Page 21 and 22: Executive Summary CORAL BLEACHING I
Page 23 and 24: Executive Summary South Asia Most r
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Status of Coral Reefs of the World:
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6. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN SOUTH A
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Status of Coral Reefs in South Asia
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8. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF EAST AN
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9. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF AUSTRAL
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Status of Coral Reefs of Australasi
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10. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE SO
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11. STATUS OF SOUTHEAST AND CENTRAL
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Status of Southeast and Central Pac
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12. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF AMERIC
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Status of Coral Reefs of American S
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15. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE NO
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Status of Coral Reefs in the Northe
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17. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE EA
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Status of Coral Reefs in the Easter
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18. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN SOUTHE
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Status of Coral Reefs in Southern T
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19. SPONSORING ORGANISATIONS, CORAL
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Sponsoring Organisations, Coral Ree
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LIST OF ACRONYMS AGRRA AIMS ASEAN B
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Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

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