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

FOREWORD
Our two governments have responded to the plight of coral reefs outlined since the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, and reiterated in
Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002. The
Philippines and Sweden have combined to guide the Secretariat of the International Coral Reef
Initiative (ICRI) with the goal of bringing developing and developed countries together to
conserve coral reefs. Our coral reefs are being damaged by both natural and human pressures
and unless we act now, it is predicted that over half of the world’s coral reefs could be severely
degraded within a generation. Coral reefs can recover from natural threats, but recovery is
slow from the direct and indirect damage that people are doing to reefs. Often that damage is
inadvertent as people seek food or cultural items from the reefs, but unfortunately some of the
damage is deliberate through constructing airports, ports and dredging channels. Damage is
caused indirectly through poor land use practices that result in sediments and excess nutrients
pouring over the reefs and through the release of sewage and industrial wastes that cause
eutrophication. Even our excessive use of plastic bags ends up damaging coral reefs. The
responses to these alarm calls have been the establishment of ICRI, the Global Coral Reef
Monitoring Network, CORDIO (Coral Degradation in the Indian Ocean), Reef Check, ReefBase
and the World Resources Institute Reefs at Risk project, to mention just some.
All people in the world are ‘stakeholders’ in coral reefs as we have inherited their wealth of
biodiversity and natural beauty, therefore we all share the responsibility for conserving
them. We now understand what damages coral reefs and the critical measures that users,
local and national governments, international agencies and NGOs have to do in
partnership to conserve reefs.
We are pleased to see that in the Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2002 report, there are
many global and local initiatives being implemented to arrest the damage, conserve coral
reefs and establish more protected areas. One example is Apo Island, in the Philippines,
where the local university and the community have worked together to conserve their
resources for the benefit of all. Another initiative is to ensure that the trade in live fish for
restaurants and the aquarium trade is ecologically sustainable, and not damaging the reefs
of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The Government of the Philippines, one of the founding countries of ICRI, hosted in 1995
the first ICRI international workshop in Dumaguete City, which outlined the pioneering
global strategy for coral reefs through the ICRI Call to Action and Framework for Action.
In March 2003, the Philippines will host the 2nd International Tropical Marine Ecosystem
Management Symposium (ITMEMS 2) in Manila. It is expected to become another
iii