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

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2002
countries have considerable legislation. Improved funding for conservation is a major
need, in order to build capacity and resources for conservation throughout the region. In
addition, the existing or nascent traditional management systems should be used to raise
public awareness of the true value of coral reefs to these Pacific islanders.
This chapter contains some new information on coral reef monitoring and Marine
Protected Area (MPA) activities, but most of the other sections are edited versions from
the chapter edited by Bernard Salvat and published in the ‘Status of Coral Reefs of the
World: 2000’ report. Readers should consult this chapter for more details or consult the
compilation of National reports published by Salvat in 2001.
INTRODUCTION
These countries (Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Niue, Tokelau, Tonga and
Wallis and Futuna) have vast areas of coral reefs, which remain in generally good
condition with few anthropogenic impacts. Traditional management is still strong
amongst these Polynesian countries which form the ‘Polynesia Mana Node’ of the GCRMN
with assistance from the CRIOBE-EPHE Research Station on Moorea. The ‘Mana’ term
symbolises the sense of stewardship that Pacific peoples have for their valuable reef
resources. Some of the countries in this Node lack sufficient capacity to be fully involved
in the reef monitoring and conservation aspects of the GCRMN, therefore the activities are
closely linked with the Southwest Pacific Node coordinated through Fiji. Most countries
produced national Coral Reef Status Reports in 2000, and these reports are summarised
here; other national reports are available on www.reefbase.org.
Capacity building for monitoring is needed in these countries, however the small populations
and large areas of resources to cover make implementation difficult. French authorities and
the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) continue to assist by improving
monitoring capacity and increasing coordination and collaboration across these countries.
REEFS, PEOPLES AND CULTURES IN THE SOUTH-EAST AND CENTRAL PACIFIC
These countries lie across the International Dateline from the Equator to 25° South and
contain 12 million km 2 of EEZ, but less than 6,000km 2 of land in 347 islands with
60,000km 2 of lagoons. There are many different island types, including 125 atolls, 8
uplifted atolls and many low coral islands on platforms. The coral reefs in the eastern
Pacific have lower biodiversity than those on reefs to the west e.g. for hard coral species there
are 115 on Kiribati, 192 on Tonga, but over 350 on the Great Barrier Reef. There are also few
estuaries, which also limits species diversity. Soft corals, gorgonians, sponges, crinoids and
mangroves are either absent or poorly represented. French Polynesian reefs however have
over 800 fish species, about half that found in on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
There are about 470,000 people, varying from 230,000 in French Polynesia to 2,000 in
Tokelau; however, there are often large non-resident populations in New Zealand, France
etc. Population growth varies from 0.5% in Tonga to 2.3% in Kiribati. Most of the people
live in capital cities or regional towns with few living traditional lifestyles on the outer
islands, and more than half of 347 islands are uninhabited. Most people are of Polynesian
origin, and can communicate using a common language base.
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