Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

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Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000 The best-developed coral reefs occur along the coast of Panamá and associated with islands off Colombia and Venezuela in the Caribbean. Coral formations are comparatively poor in the Pacific and occur principally along the Costa Rica-Panamá coasts. Most coral reefs in the region have undergone major changes during the last 30 years, but particularly during the 1980s. There have been considerable losses of live coral cover in many reef areas, while algae have become dominant. Diseases of corals are now commonly seen on Caribbean reefs. Nevertheless, high coral cover can still be found at numerous reef locations of both Caribbean (means between 20-40%) and Pacific (means above 40%) coasts. Some of these changes were caused by natural agents (ENSO events, bleaching, disease outbreaks, phytoplankton blooms), but others are clearly related to human impacts (deforestation, increased sedimentation, sewage pollution, overfishing). Bleaching events apparently increased in frequency, but decreased in severity, throughout the 1990s in the region. The second strong ENSO event (1997/98) generated only moderate bleaching and low coral mortality in the Pacific side. Mild bleaching, but insignificant coral mortality, occurred also in 1997/98 in several Caribbean and Atlantic localities. As global warming increases, it is predicted that coral bleaching will become a more frequent event during the next decade, although the level of bleaching and related mortality during each episode will probably continue to be low. There are about 40 protected areas and reserves that include coral reefs in the region, but most of them remain as ‘paper parks’ because of limited funding to implement management plans and enforce regulations. Despite the importance and accelerated degradation of coral reefs in the region, there are few specific government policies and laws to promote conservation of these ecosystems. Most protection is intended through the inclusion of reef areas within national parks and other reserves. Reef monitoring in the region has been carried out for 20 years; however, geographic coverage and regional expansion are still very low due of funding limitations. RECOMMENDATIONS • It is necessary to complete the baseline characterisation of coral reefs in the region, including: mapping, biodiversity evaluations, population assessments of important species or groups of species, coral health assessments, and socioeconomic assessments. • Reef monitoring in this region must be maintained in the long term and significantly expanded through the development of national monitoring programmes in each country, including the integration of these into the regional and global initiatives. National programmes need to address both protected and non-protected reef areas. • Extraction of all reef organisms, including the so-called ‘live rock’ must be completely prohibited within the protected areas. 346
Status of Coral Reefs in Southern Tropical America • Tourism in coral reef areas needs to be regulated, including the designation of dive sites based on scientific criteria to establish carrying capacity limits. • New reef conservation programmes must include the surrounding areas, in particular adjacent and upstream large watersheds in order to minimise the input of sediments and pollutants into reef areas. • Specific government policies and laws for coral reef sustainable management need to be developed during the next few years, as well as effective protection of natural parks and reserves through implementation of management plans and law enforcement. • National governments need to increase regular budgets for institutions that have responsibilities for monitoring and conservation of coral reefs, but also the funding for scientific research on this ecosystem. At the same time, international programmes and funding agencies must provide important matching support for developing countries and for regional cooperative initiatives. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work and the organisation of the GCRMN Node for Southern Tropical America (STA) was developed through an agreement (CR/0401/94-15-2218) between the ‘Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras’ (INVEMAR) and the Regional Coordinating Unit for the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment Programmes (UNEP-RCU/CAR). Additional support has been received from the fund COLCIENCIAS-BID (project 2105-09-327-97). Helpful collaboration and information have been provided by the following colleagues: Juan M. Díaz, Jaime A. Rojas, Diego L. Gil, Maria C. Reyes, Nadia Santodomingo, Fernando Zapata and Pilar Herron from Colombia; Ana Fonseca from Costa Rica; Estrella Villamizar, J.M. Posada, F.J. Losada, Shiela Pauls and Pablo Penchaszadeh from Venezuela; Ernesto Weil from Puerto Rico; and Ruy Kikuchi and Viviane Testa from Brazil. Jaime Garzón-Ferreira (jgarzon@invemar.org.co) and Alberto Rodríguez-Ramírez (betorod@invemar.org.co) are the Regional and Colombian Coordinators respectively of the GCRMN Node for Southern Tropical America at the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR) in Colombia; Jorge Cortés (jcortes@cariari.ucr.ac.cr) is a National Coordinator of the STA Node at the CIMAR-Univ. Costa Rica; Aldo Croquer (croquer@telcel.net.ve) is a National Coordinator of the STA Node at the INTECMAR-Univ. Simón Bolívar in Venezuela; Héctor Guzmán (guzmanh@naos.si.edu) is a National Coordinator of the STA Node at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panamá; and Zelinda Leao (zelinda@ufba.br) is a National Coordinator of the STA Node at the Instituto de Geociencias-Univ. Federal da Bahia in Brazil. 347
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Status of Coral Reefs of the World:
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FOREWORD Over the past few years, I
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CONTENTS COUNTRIES, STATES AND TERR
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COUNTRIES, STATES AND TERRITORIES A
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Countries, States and Territories T
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CLIVE WILKINSON T
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Executive Summary CORAL BLEACHING I
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Executive Summary South Asia Most r
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Executive Summary parts of Fiji and
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Executive Summary management and mo
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Executive Summary tourism developme
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Executive Summary problem is loomin
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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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Status of Coral Reefs of East and N
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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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Status of Coral Reefs in the Southw
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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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