#Status of Coral Reefs 2002 - International Coral Reef Action Network

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2002
A specific theme of this 3 rd edition of Status of Coral Reefs of the World is to document
progress in conserving coral reefs in World Heritage Sites, Man and the Biospheres Sites,
International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) Demonstration sites, and other Marine
Protected Areas (MPAs). Many of these sites arose from projects aimed at conserving the
environment, but very few have implemented performance evaluation pertinent to the
natural resources. For example, are the objectives of conserving the coral reef showing
success? The critical first step in conservation is to assess the resources, then monitor
trends in these resources, including how the human components are interacting with the
resources. The types of monitoring encouraged by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring
Network (GCRMN) aim to provide user communities and resource managers with the data
needed to assess management strategies and adjust them to improve success. Another
aspect that is frequently overlooked with monitoring is that the act of observing the
system to gather data is a powerful awareness raising tool. When communities see the
results of their activities, they are more likely to support management to conserve their
resources. Decision makers are also alerted to the issues when they witness communities
gathering data on coral reefs. This 3 rd edition reports on the status of coral reef
monitoring in these key conservation sites and provides a report card on the effectiveness
of managing MPAs. This will be repeated in future editions as a check on progress at
establishing and managing MPAs.
Since the last report, a series of major initiatives are starting to accelerate coral reef
protection:
• the US Coral Reef Task Force and other governments have provided more funds
and expertise to manage coral reefs across the globe, particularly in US
dependent and associated territories;
• ICRAN, using funds from the United Nations Foundation, has started
strengthening a series of key demonstration sites in 4 of the major coral reef
areas of the world;
• the World Bank, IOC/UNESCO and other partners have launched a targeted
research effort to bring the full force of science together to examine some of the
major issues facing coral reefs (global climate change, coral bleaching, coral
reef rehabilitation etc.);
• The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife
Fund have launched a major project to create a linked series of MPAs that both
exchange larvae and also are more resistant to climate change caused bleaching;
• The Packard Foundation has launched the Western Pacific Biodiversity
Conservation Project, focussed largely on coral reefs of the Asia-Pacific region.
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