corals going under

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Reef grief: Corals going under

By TAN CHENG LI The Star 5th March 02.

 

SCIENTISTS have identified the world's top

10 coral reef hotspots, areas which are small yet

extremely rich in marine species, and, hence, are

highly vulnerable to extinction.

 

By comparing the range (endemism) of key species

with threats from human activities, 10 priority areas

for coral reef conservation have been listed by the

Centre for Applied Biodiversity Science at

Conservation Internation-al, a Washington

DC-based environment group.

 

" We know that unless we take

action right away, marine species

will start going extinct, because

you lose biodiversity as a consequence of

habitat destruction, " said Dr Callum Roberts of the

University of York in Britain and lead author

of the report, in a recent statement. " This study can

help us create an urgently needed strategy that targets

the places

where biodiversity is bleeding away most rapidly. "

 

The 10 coral reef hotspots, ranked according to

the degree of threat, are: the Philippines; Gulf of

Guinea Islands; Sunda Islands (Indonesia);

southern Masca-rene Islands (near Madagas-car);

eastern South Africa; the northern Indian Ocean;

the Far East region consisting of southern Japan,

Taiwan and southern China; the Cape Verde

Islands; Western Caribbean; and, finally, the Red

Sea and Gulf of Aden region.

 

The study contradicts a long-held contention that

marine species are unlikely to become extinct as a

consequence of human activities because of their

vast geographic ranges in the oceans. It found that

while the hotspots contain just 24% of the world's

coral reefs (or 0.017% of the oceans), they host

34% of restricted-range (or endemic) species.

 

The study mapped the geographic ranges of 3,235

marine species, including 1,700 species of reef fish,

804 species of coral, 662 species of snail and 69

species of lobster. These are four separate animal

groups that all require healthy reef environments in

order to survive.

 

The study says human activities are threatening

more than half - some 58% - of the world's reefs.

Agricul-ture, deforestation and development have

poured large quantities of sediment, nutrients and

other pollutants into coastal waters. Intense fishing

and climate change are also causing grief to reef

ecosystems.

 

Reef degradation in the hotspots can rob some of

the world's poorest people of an important source

of nutrition, and in many cases their livelihoods. In

the Philippines, for example, people derive some

70% of their animal protein from seafood.

 

" The oceans have long been considered limitless

places where we have little impact on species'

survival. But the richest of the shallow tropical

marine habitats are at risk of disappearing at an

incredibly fast rate. This study is further proof that

we need to dramatically increase conservation

efforts at sea, " said Dr Sylvia Earle, executive

director for marine programmes with Conservation

International.

 

Creating marine reserves that are off limits to

fishing is one immediate step suggested in the

report to curb further reef destruction. Currently,

only about 6% of the world's land is in parks. In

the oceans, the picture is grimmer: less than 0.5%

of global reefs are in protected areas.

 

The study stresses that marine conservation has

been proven to be economically beneficial - in

marine reserves, fish live longer, grow larger and

can replenish surrounding fisheries. Five years after

setting up a network of marine reserves around the

Caribbean island of St Lucia, for instance, fish

catches have nearly doubled, Roberts revealed.

 

The study also discovered that eight of the 10 coral

reef hotspots are adjacent to a terrestrial

biodiversity hotspot, those regions that harbour the

highest concentrations of species on land and are

also at the greatest risk. This underscores the

importance of an integrated conservation strategy

for land and sea.

 

The project also identified " wilderness " reef sites,

areas which are still relatively untouched by men

and are still rich in species.

 

One spot which fits this description is Papua New

Guinea. The study recommends that conservation

efforts extend to both the coral reef hotspots and

these " wilderness " areas.

 

Data for the study was also culled from a project

by the United Nations Environment Programme

(Unep) and the World Conservation Monitoring

Centre (WCMC); last September, the project

relased the UNEP-WCMC World Atlas of Coral

Reefs.

 

That study had revealed that marine ecosystems

occupy a much smaller area of the planet than

previously assumed: 284,300sq km or an area just

half the size of France. In other words, they cannot

withstand as much abuse as previously thought.

 

To find out more, go to www.conservation.org.

 

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