Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000
reduce inappropriate port management, shipping and navigation practices must
be created. The importance of addressing trans-boundary threats is emphasised.
• Unsustainable fishing practices throughout the region must be reduced by:
enforcing existing fishery regulations and improving compliance; designing new
regulations that reflect an ecosystem approach to management and are
harmonised regionally; designating marine fishery reserves; developing financial
mechanisms to sustain marine protected areas; eliminating destructive fishing
practices; developing economic alternatives to unsustainable fishing; and
promoting economic incentives for conservation.
• The institutional infrastructure and financial sustainability for implementing and
enforcing national and international government policies needs improvement in
Mexico and Belize and full development in the other countries. Policies and
legislation to strengthen cooperation and coordination on conservation and
sustainable use of coral reefs at the regional level need to be developed.
• There is an immediate and attainable requirement to develop the infrastructure
and capacity to carry out an interdisciplinary regional program for collecting,
exchanging, and using important ecological and socioeconomic information as
well as monitoring the regional status of coral reefs and their resources.
• Raising environmental consciousness on the importance of coral reefs and the
need to conserve their resources is the highest priority that needs to be
incorporated into all of the above recommendations. Local, national, and
regional education/awareness programmes need to be developed along with
incentives to promote conservation and to take action to use coral reefs in a
sustainable manner.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Authors
Philip A. Kramer, University of Miami/RSMAS.USA. pkramer@rsmas.miami.edu
Patricia Richards Kramer, University of Miami/RSMAS. USA. tkramer@rsmas.miami.edu
Ernesto Arias-Gonzalez, CINVESTAV-Univ. Merida, MX earias@mda.cinvestav.mx
Melanie D. McField, University of South Florida. USA/BZ. mcfield@btl.net
We thank R. Ginsburg, M. Hatziolis, H. Reyes Bonilla, M. Vierros, P. Dulin, P. Sale, and C.
Wilkinson for their comments.
Invaluable information was gained through communications with many experts in the region
including M. Alamilla, A. Arrivillaga, B. Aspra, J. Azueta J. Barborak, J. Bezaury, T. Bright, A.
Fonseca, C. Garcia Saez, R. Garza-Perez, J. Gibson, D. Gomez, J. Gonzalez Cano, A.
Izurieta, N. Jacobs, E. Jordan-Dahlgren, M. Jorge, M. Lara, R. Loreto, S. Marin, C. Padilla, J.
Robinson, R. Rodriguez, A. Salaverria, G. Smith, G. Vincent, B. Wade, and N. Windevoxel.
The Mexican National Report by J.P. Carricart-Gavinet, J.Carriquiry, D. Gutiérrez Carbonell,
M. Lara Pérez, G. Horta Puga, G. Leyte, P. Medina, H. Reyes, and J.M. Vargas, provides
further information. Additional information came from unpublished reports of S.
Andrefouet et al., C. Bouchon et al., Huitric and McField, G. Horta Puga; Nunez-Lara et al.;
A.M. Garduno; and C. Gonzalez-Gandara.
Many exceptional resources were used to compile this report and full citations can be
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