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25 Oct 05 INTERVIEW - Scientists Draft Blueprint to Protect World Oceans MSNBC website 25 Oct 05 Half of all coral reefs in danger, experts warn Global warming cited; U.S. warns of major event in Caribbean The Associated Press IUCN website 25 Oct 05 Marine protected areas make coral reefs more resilient to climate change New World Conservation Union (IUCN) report offers strategies to combat coral bleaching Geelong, Australia, 25 October 2005 (IUCN) – Up to half of the world’s coral reefs may be lost within the next 40 years unless urgent measures are taken to protect them against the paramount threat of climate change, warns a new report “Coral Reef Resilience and Resistance to Bleaching” released by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Marine protected areas (MPAs) are key to preventing further degradation of these “underwater rainforests” by making corals more robust and helping them resist bleaching, says the report which will be launched today at the First International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC1) held in Geelong, Australia until Friday, 28 October. IMPAC1 is a global conference co-organised by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas together with Australian governmental and institutional partners. “Twenty percent of the earth’s coral reefs, arguably the richest of all marine ecosystems, have been effectively destroyed today. Another 30 percent will become seriously depleted if no action is taken within the next 20-40 years, with climate change being a major factor for their loss,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN Marine Programme. In the worst ever recorded coral bleaching event in 1998, up to 90% of coral reefs died in some areas of the Indian Ocean. Coral bleaching is caused by increased surface temperatures in the high seas and higher levels of sunlight (UV) caused by climate change. As temperatures rise, the algae on which corals depend for food and colour die out, causing the coral to whiten, or “bleach”. Prolonged bleaching conditions - over ten weeks - can eventually lead to the death of the coral. “Current predictions are that massive coral bleaching will become a regular event over the next 50 years,” says Lundin. In its new report, the World Conservation Union offers approaches to make coral reefs more resilient to climate change. MPAs are a key tool, relieving coral reef ecosystems from other stress factors that cause bleaching – including sediment run-off, pollution, over-fishing and invasive species. For instance, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has received international acclaim for the government’s efforts to extend protection to cover onethird of the world’s largest coral reef, which should help the area better cope with water pollution and sudden outbreaks of the invasive and voracious crown-of-thorn starfish. According to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, under zerostress conditions, reefs affected by the crown-of-thorns starfish can recover relatively quickly, often within 7-15 years. However, recovery can take much longer if the resilience of the ecosystem has been eroded by other stresses such as water pollution or bleaching. IUCN’s report also recommends a strategy for the establishment of a global MPA network in the face of climate change, covering all important marine ecosystems including coral reefs. “For a global MPA network, we need to take climate change into consideration– some marine ecosystems become more valuable, others less so, which influences our decisions on which site should be included in the global network,” says Lundin. Other key strategies to enable coral reefs to be more resilient to bleaching are sustainable fisheries management and integrated coastal management. “Destructive fishing practices such as blast- or poison fishing can make coral reef more vulnerable to bleaching – it can decrease coral cover or deplete fish populations that are important for the coral reef ecosystem,” says Rod Salm, Director, Coastal Marine Program, The Nature Conservancy. IMPAC1 aims to advance MPAs as a key tool for marine conservation, carrying forward the implementation of resolutions on MPAs arising from the 2003 IUCN World Parks Congress, which first highlighted that MPAs are severely under-represented at the global level. Only one percent of the world’s oceans are under protection today. MSNBC website 25 Oct 05 Half of all coral reefs in danger, experts warn Global warming cited; U.S. warns of major event in Caribbean The Associated Press BANGKOK, Thailand - Up to half of the world's coral reefs may disappear by 2045 unless urgent measures are taken to protect them against environmental hazards, particularly climate change, the World Conservation Union said in a report released Tuesday. The Swiss-based organization called for the establishment of more protected marine areas to shelter the coral reefs from commercial fishing and pollution, where they could become more resistant to a deadly process known as bleaching. "Twenty percent of the earth's coral reefs, arguably the richest of all marine ecosystems, have been effectively destroyed today," said Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of the agency's marine environment program who helped write the report "Coral Reef Resilience and Resistance to Bleaching." "Another 30 percent will become seriously depleted if no action is taken within the next 20-40 years, with climate change being a major factor for their loss," he said in a statement. Raw sewage and farm runoff are other contributors, experts say. Many coral reefs die because of bleaching, caused by rising surface temperatures at seas and higher levels of sunlight due to climate change. As the temperature rises, the algae on which corals depend for food and color die out, causing the coral to whiten, or "bleach." Prolonged bleaching over ten weeks eventually kills the coral. "Current predictions are that massive coral bleaching will become a regular event over the next 50 years," Lundin said. U.S. report In Washington, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Tuesday that “a major coral bleaching event is underway in the Caribbean and may result in significant coral death in much of the region.” “Currently, the bleaching is centered in waters adjacent to the U.S. Virgin Islands,” NOAA said in a statement. “Reports of bleaching have come in from the Florida Keys and Texas' Flower Garden Banks in the north, to Tobago and Barbados in the southern Antilles, to Panama and Costa Rica in the west.” NOAA said surveys show 85 to 95 percent of coral colonies were bleached in some reef areas. Pitch for marine parks In its report, the World Conservation Union said marine parks reduce the stress on coral reef ecosystems by reducing the impact of pollution and overfishing. The report also recommended a strategy for the establishment of a global marine park network in the face of climate change, covering all important marine ecosystems including coral reefs. Other key strategies to enable coral reefs to be more resilient to bleaching are sustainable fisheries management and integrated coastal management, the report found. "Destructive fishing practices such as blast or poison fishing can make coral reefs more vulnerable to bleaching," said The Nature Conservancy's Rod Salm in a statement. "It can decrease coral cover or deplete fish populations that are important for the coral reef ecosystem." PlanetArk, 25 Oct 05 INTERVIEW - Scientists Draft Blueprint to Protect World Oceans SYDNEY - International scientists are mapping out a plan for a network of marine parks to save the world's oceans from fish stock depletion and growing pollution. Achim Steiner, director-general of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), said a conservation plan for the unregulated high seas -- part of a UN-backed plan -- would be produced by 2008, for adoption by world governments by 2012. "We've had a good century of developing terrestrial protected areas, national parks on land," Steiner told Reuters late on Monday at the world's first conference on marine protected areas. "But in the face of big challenges such as habitat loss, pollution of coastal zones, and species loss, and the high seas collapse of fish stocks, the whole marine realm is becoming rapidly more important," Steiner said by telephone from Geelong, a southern Australian city where 700 scientists from 70 countries gathered for the conference. An IUCN report released on Tuesday said that up to half of the world's coral reefs might be lost in the next 40 years unless urgent measures were taken to protect them against climate change and other threats. As much as 20 percent of the earth's coral reefs have been effectively destroyed, Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of IUCN Marine Programme, told the conference on Tuesday. Another 30 percent would be seriously depleted if no action was taken in the next 20-40 years. In some cases coral reefs have been 90 percent lost. Warming sea surface temperatures can cause bleaching of some reefs and coral can take years to recover. Bleaching is the whitening of coral colonies due to the loss of symbiotic zooxanthellae -- microscopic plants -- from the tissues of coral polyps. Sediment run-off from farming is also harming reefs. Scientists say marine protected areas could help save coral reefs, for example by preventing the overfishing that can decrease coral cover or deplete fish populations important for the coral reef ecosystem. The attempt to bring the seas under greater control follows increasingly lawless acts, epitomised by Australia's dramatic 21-day chase in 2003 of a Uruguayan-flagged boat which had been poaching the Patagonian toothfish -- prized as a delicacy -- in treacherous Antarctic seas. While the world's first marine park was established almost 100 years ago, the hundreds that now exist around the globe were mostly set up in the past 15-20 years. Australia established the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Marine Park in 1975 over an area of 35 million hectares (87 million acres) -- bigger than Italy. Marine parks also exist in the United States, Europe, Africa and elsewhere, but they could be just the start. "The situation in oceans around the world is deteriorating, and at an escalating pace," Steiner said. Of the 17 largest fisheries around the world, 15 are at either maximum exploitation levels or are depleting the level of their fish resource base. "The offtake is unsustainable," Steiner said. links Related articles on Wild Shores of Singapore |
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