11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

23.901
Reef Monitoring Project For Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve, Hawai‘i
Frank G. STANTON* 1
1 Marine Option Program, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
The coral reefs of Kaho‘olawe have been monitored sporadically since 1969 with no
long-term management focus until recently. In 1994 the island and surrounding waters
were set aside as a reserve for cultural and traditional activities by native Hawaiians and
to restore the land and waters of the island. Five coastline access locations were
designated for human activities, and a program was established in 2004 to monitor these
sites and five control sites as part of a marine resource management plan. Monitoring
originally included benthic cover and fish numbers but has expanded to include coral
bleaching and disease monitoring. Overall, the reefs are in relatively good shape and
considered among the best in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Noticeable decreases in some
fish species have occurred at all sites and cannot be directly attributed to human activities
at the five access sites. Coral bleaching occurs annually during the summer, but there has
been no large-scale coral mortality from bleaching. Coral disease monitoring is still in a
descriptive phase and has identified only low levels of incidence to date. The coral reefs
of Kaho‘olawe must be managed as part of an island ecosystem because most of the
impacts are related to natural and anthropogenic sources on land. Incorporating a coral
reef management plan early in the management process has accomplished several things:
1) It has measured prior conditions before impacts occur at selected sites. 2) It has
identified broader scale impacts that may not be directly related to coastal activities. 3) It
has drawn attention to the need to integrate reef management with land management. 4)
It has created a baseline of reef conditions that can be used when planning for other
marine related activities such as fish farming or energy generation.
23.902
Environment Impact Assessment: Effective to Protect Okinawa's Coral Reefs at
Risk?
Seiji NAKAYA* 1
1 Research Institute for Subtropics, Okinawa, Japan
Since its reversion to Japan in 1972, Okinawa has experienced drastic improvement of
infrastructure, including construction of harbor, fishing port and seawalls, reclamation of
coral reefs for industrial, business and residential sites, as well as terrestrial civil works
for farmlands, roads, dams, and river embankment. As these often degrade coral reef
ecosystems, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) was introduced to conserve
environmental values. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of EIA in terms of
conservation of coral reefs in Okinawa Island.
I reviewed existing documents regarding major construction projects that are under
planning, EIA or construction on or near coral reefs.
On-going projects include: (1) Reclamation of Awase wetlands for multipurpose ground,
(2) Construction of 6 US Marine Helipads in a rain forest where endangered endemic
species inhabit, (3) Reclamation for a US Marine air base, (4) Seaward extension of a
commercial airport that shares the runway with Japan Air Self-Defense Force, (5)
Extension of Naha Port including relocation of US Army Port on the precise natural
shoreline. While EIA helped the public be involved in decision making process, EIA in
Okinawa possesses flaws in the process as follows. (a) As EIA is conducted after details
are determined, no comparison of environmental impacts among alternate plans,
including a zero option, or major revisions of the plan can be made. (b) Information is
open to the public in a late stage of the process. (c) Legitimate EIA is often exempted for
unclear reasons. (d) Information on military issues is not provided.
Findings strongly suggest that public be allowed to participate in an early stage of
planning, that information be accessible more freely, and that strategic EIA be
introduced, especially for large-scale projects, if EIA is to be effective for conservation of
coral reefs and related ecosystems.
Poster Mini-Symposium 23: Reef Management
23.903
Spatial Diversity Of Coral Reef Communities in Sulu Sea Marine Corridors
Wilfredo Roehl LICUANAN* 1 , Katrina LUZON 2 , Porfirio ALINO 2
1 Biology Department and Shields Marine Station, De La Salle University-Manila, Manila,
Philippines, 2 Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City,
Philippines
Most protected coral reefs and coral communities in the Philippines are in small fishery reserves
chosen for their coral cover and fish biomass, rather than their biodiversity conservation value.
In an effort to improve criteria for designing these small reserves, spatial arrangement,
particularly patch sizes of the reef benthos, was examined using semivariograms computed
from DCA ordination scores of raw data. The data were generated from reef photos taken at
one meter intervals along 100m transect lines, deployed along depth contours at 27 reef sites in
three locations in the Sulu Sea. These locations are along the Cagayan Ridge (including
Cagayancillo, and the Tubattaha National Marine Park), and reefs in Balabac Islands, southern
Palawan that lie in a strait connecting the Sulu Sea with the South China Sea. Three basic
community types were discerned - Type 1 communities are made up mostly by sand, rubble,
and macroalgae as typically encountered in reef flats and backreef areas; Type 2 communities
are a mix of different forms of various coral genera (except Acropora); and Type 3 communities
are made up mostly of Acropora, either in tabulate or branching form. These community types
are typically seen as mosaics but their relative proportions vary with depth and exposure to
monsoon winds, and appear to indicate disturbance history of a site. Type 1 and Type 3
communities are typically large patches, with the latter at shallow sites, and the former at deep
or sheltered ones. Community mosaics dominated by both types have low diversity but the
latter also has the highest coral cover. Type 2 communities, on the other hand, have small
mosaic patches and steep species area curves. These are typically found at intermediate depths.
23.904
Conceptualizing Fisher-Tourism Conflict in An Indonesian Mpa
Leila SIEVANEN* 1
1 Environmental Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Bunaken National Marine Park, as an internationally recognized example of successful
integration of economic growth (through ecotourism) and biodiversity conservation, has
experienced a steady increase in foreign and domestic dive tourists over the past ten years. In
marine protected areas (MPAs) funded by ecotourism, arguably the most common type of social
conflict results from competition between fishers and tourists. Unresolved fisher-tourism
conflict in MPAs is often directly related to management failure. To resolve the resulting
conflict over space for livelihood and tourism needs in Bunaken, Park officials have
implemented a co-management approach in which fishers and tourism operators participate in
establishing exclusive zones separating fishing and diving activities.
Many scholars view competition over scarce coral reef resources as a major source of
increasing social conflict in coastal Southeast Asia. In this view, conflict resolution can be
achieved through fishers and divers jointly deciding where their respective activities can occur.
Based on eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Bunaken National Marine Park, I
contrast two views of fisher-tourism conflict. Is this conflict better viewed as a conflict over
scarce resources or a social conflict over access to natural resources? I argue that viewing
conflict in MPAs as driven mainly by resource limitation omits the greater social and political
context in which an MPA operates. My research showed that on–the-ground operation of the
MPA favors non-consumptive over consumptive uses and implicitly favored dive interests over
fishing interests. Understanding the social conflicts associated with the implementation of these
assumptions in an MPA is key to successful management.
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