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

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2002
lying Pacific islands are particularly susceptible to sea level rise associated with climate
change. Tuvalu stressed this at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg in September 2002 noting that the upward growth of the islands is
unlikely to keep pace with the predicted sea level rises of 15-95cm by 2100. There is
already evidence of accelerating shoreline erosion on some islands.
STATUS OF REEF CONSERVATION
These countries, assisted by SPREP, developed National Environment Management
Strategies (NEMS) prior to the 1992 UNCED Conference. As most are relatively small
countries, SPREP assists them with compliance with Conventions and Agreements on
marine conservation and sustainable development (Convention on Biological Diversity,
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change etc).
The Activity Plan for the Conservation of Coral Reefs in the Pacific Islands Region (1998-
2002) targets 5 areas: education and awareness; monitoring, assessment and research;
capacity building; legislation; and networking and linkages across people and programs.
Customary marine tenure that was often designed to conserve marine resources existed
in all countries prior to Western influences and was based on ancestral rights and
administered at various levels (tribe, village, clan, family). However, many of these
traditions have been devalued through the more ‘western’ governance and zoning
structures that emphasise resources as common property. The challenge for these
countries is to retain and where possible re-instate traditional management into future
MPA and coastal zone management plans. It is necessary, however, to use care in
adopting traditional rules into modern contexts; they should be a source of inspiration,
and will not work in all areas.
Fiji
Traditional systems still exist in Fiji, but are collapsing under commercial pressures to
exploit coastal resources. Fiji has no national system of MPAs, however there is a
growing network of village owned and managed MPAs under the Locally Managed
Marine Areas (LMMA) project. This is modelled on the traditional system, but adapted
to suit the changing circumstances. Dive operators and NGOs are also very active in
raising awareness and promoting reef conservation.
The USP and other agencies established the LMMA project to promote coral reef
conservation, using a system modelled on the village-owned and managed MPAs
following the Fijian traditional customary marine tenure system. An important
component is training villagers to monitor the resources within the protected areas.
The goals of these MPAs vary: fishing grounds in Macuata and Verata are closed to
allow recovery of overfished reefs; other areas prohibit poison fishing; some limit
gillnet mesh size to 7cm; others ban turtle and coral harvesting; or suspend the issuing
of commercial fishing licenses to outsiders. Locals have been trained as guides in a
protected area in Waitabu, Taveuni for an average of 22 snorkelling tourists per month.
The Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (FSP) has assisted villagers in Viti
Levu in coral gardening to rehabilitate damaged coral reefs, and to establish 4 MPAs.
They also collaborate with the Shangri-La resort on sewage management and
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