A School Teachers Guidebook to Marine Environmental Education ...

SCHOOLTEACHER’S GUIDE TO MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Distribution of coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean (dark areas)
Destruction of coral reefs
Coral reefs face a number of threats from human activities. These include:
a) Sediments from land-based activities such as agriculture and mining;
b) Pollution from sewage and industrial wastes;
c) The use of destructive fishing methods such as dynamite fishing and
poison fishing;
d) Collection of coral for lime making or as souvenirs for sale to tourists;
e) Damage of live coral by anchoring boats on the reefs or trampling
during snorkelling or diving;
f) Activities that affect the ecological balance between living things on
the reefs, for instance, overfishing;
g) Natural events such as damage from storms and hurricanes, river
flooding carrying sediments onto reefs close to the shore, coral
bleaching and outbreak of diseases and predators, especially the crownof-thorns
starfish.
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