11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

23.955
The Risk Assessment Of Soil Erosion For Better Management Of Coral Reefs in
The Pacific
Pascal DUMAS* 1,2 , Julia PRINTEMPS 2 , Maxime FOSSEY 2
1 University of New Caledonia, Noumea, New Caledonia, 2 IRD, Noumea, New Caledonia
The Pacific islands that comprise nearly 25% of coral structures are increasingly subject
to significant damage, the result of the increased local population and development
activities on the coastal zone. Controlling pollution that could degrade these fragile
ecosystems need to be able to assess the natural and human pressures developing
upstream of this environment but directly affecting it. The management of coral reefs
should be done through an integrated management of the coastal zone, taking into
account the impacts of pollutants in watersheds. In the high islands subject to an
aggressive tropical climate, sediment inputs are significant and a major cause of
degradation of fringing reefs. To assess the sediment deposition into the lagoon, it is
necessary to characterize the erosion process on the watersheds and to highlight the areas
most affected by erosion. This paper describes the methodology implemented to map the
sensitivity of soil erosion, looked at from the point of view of the potential emission of
solid particles. We used the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to estimate the soil
loss per unit area coming from surfacial erosion. Geographical Information System maps
were derived for each of the factors involved in the USLE, including rainfall, slope
steepness and length, soil erodibility, and cover. In a second step, the spatialization
erosion hazard will be crossed with the degree of confinement of the marine environment
in order to locate and prioritize risks of hyper-sedimentation, identifying threats of
degradation of reef ecosystems. This work is being implemented on the islands of Efate
in Vanuatu, Veti Levu in Fiji and Tahiti and Moorea in French Polynesia and the Grande-
Terre in New Caledonia.
23.956
Law Enforcement As An Effective Tool For Coral Reef Protection in Sri Lanka
Premathilaka BOLANDA HAKURU* 1
1 Coast Conservation Department, colombo 10, Sri Lanka
This paper tries to examine the effectiveness of law enforcement as a tool to address
anthropogenic coral reef management issues in Sri Lanka where the issues are triggered
by short-term economical gains and they are occurring in a boarder geographical scale.
Also in a country that’s administrative system does not promote community based
resource management initiatives. Mining coral from nearshore reefs for lime production,
use of destructive fishing practices like blast fishing, uncontrolled collection of reef biota,
pollution and siltation resulting from deforestation and other improper land use activities
are the primary threats for Sri Lankan reefs. Considering the value of reefs for fisheries,
coastal protection, tourism and biodiversity, a number of legislative measures have been
taken by the government to ensure the conservation of the country’ coral resources. Flora
and fauna ordinance, Coast conservation act, Fisheries and aquatic resource development
act and Marine Pollution Prevention Act are the important together provide an adequate
legal coverage for the above mentioned issues and each agency has developed their own
enforcement mechanisms. Especially enforcement capacity of the Coast conservation
department has been strengthened during the last couple of years with the assistance of
Asian Development Bank, Global Environmental Facility and UNDP. The results of the
survey, undertaken my myself for the Coast Conservation department reveals the rate of
compliance with law and regulations has been increased mainly due to the strict
enforcement effort. However the uncoordinated enforcement efforts of different agencies
are still to be addressed to enhance the effectiveness of reef conservation and
management in Sri Lanka.
Poster Mini-Symposium 23: Reef Management
23.957
Ten-Year Evolution Of Inter-Municipal Marine Protected Area (Mpa) Management in
Lingayen Gulf, Northwestern Philippines
Severino III SALMO* 1,2 , Kevin PACIFICO 2 , Porfirio ALINO 2
1 Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 2 The Marine
Science Institute, Quezon City, Philippines
The lessons and experiences in the integration of community-based and local government
approaches that led to the evolution of inter-municipal Marine Protected Area management
arrangement in Lingayen Gulf, northwestern Philippines is characterized. From 1997 to 2002,
MPAs were established and managed through community-based strategies in the municipalities
of Bolinao and Anda. Subsequent efforts were made by the Local Government Units (LGU) of
the municipalities of Bani and San Fernando in establishing MPAs in 2003 to 2005.
Community-based approaches was effective in eliciting community participation in conducting
regular management activities but was constrained by financial concerns and lacking
institutional support. On the other hand, the local government-managed MPAs have more
available financial resources and institutional accountability but had difficulties in engaging
local communities. The success of both management approaches however was hampered by
trans-municipal boundary problems, most notably encroachment and illegal fishing outside the
MPAs. From 2005 to 2007 efforts on MPA networking were undertaken aiming to enhance the
management effectiveness of each MPA at local and municipal-level as an entry for a gulf wide
level ecosystem based management approach. Annual inter-governmental MPA Symposium
served as the venue for each municipality in presenting the management status of each site and
sharing the lessons learned in the management of each MPA. Initial joint patrolling and law
enforcement was the main venue for joint action among municipal governments that resulted to
the improvement of MPA management across sites. While the rate of improvement varies
among sites, the analyses of monitoring data showed an increasing trend in coral cover and reef
fish biomass. To capitalize on this initial success, the Lingayen Gulf MPA network should be
formalize and develop more opportunities for cost-sharing activities as in other emergent
activities around the country.
23.958
Management Of Snorkeling Trails in The Andaman Sea And The Gulf Of Thailand
Se SONGPLOY* 1 , Nipat SOMKLEEB 1 , Nisit RUENGSAWANG 2 , Jamrearn BUARUANG 1 ,
Thamasak YEEMIN 1
1 Biology, Marine Biodiversity Research Group, Bangkok, Thailand, 2 Biology, Rajamankala
University of Technilogy Krungthep, Bnagkok, Thailand
The Indian Ocean Tsunami incident on December 26, 2004 had caused casualties on human
lives, properties and various resources on the Andaman coast of Thailand. The damaged coral
reefs are required to have a recovery period with suspension of all tourism activities while the
areas not affected may be further enjoyed by tourists. The coral reefs employed as tourist spots
have been declining in terms of area but Thailand has targeted to increase the number of tourists
who prefer diving activities. Thus it is necessary to efficiently arrange the diving activities to
facilitate an increasing number of tourists with minimum impacts toward coral reefs.
Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Kasetsart University, Prince of Songkla
University, and Ramkhamhaeng University jointly set up underwater trails in six provinces
along the Andaman coast of Thailand to provide suitable spots for divers at the diving depths
not affecting coral reefs. The present study aims to monitor the success of snorkeling trails
management at Ko Daeng in Krabi Province and Ko Pu in Phuket Province.Visitors learn and
understand more about nature of marine lives and processes occurring by visiting the snorkeling
trails. We have prepared the route to pass interesting spots with several waterproof guides to
indicate the location of 10 spots in each trail and provide further information on diversity of
marine organisms that can be found in the areas. Lessons learn from the Andaman Sea were
applied to Mu Koh Chang, in the Gulf of Thailand. Besides, it stimulated tourism activities in
the damaged areas and generated incomes to local people and enhanced understanding and
awareness on natural resource and marine life conservation. The snorkeling trail project should
be considered as a tool for sustainable utilization of coral reefs in Thai waters.
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