CORDIO Status Report 2000

ture. Tourism on Mayotte is a rapidly expanding industry
and most tourists come from France and Réunion Island
(Westmacott et al., this volume)
RÉUNION, FRANCE
Réunion was not severely affected by the bleaching and
those colonies affected are now showing signs of recovery.
Live coral cover at the survey sites is reported to be
in the region of 30% - 40% (Quod & Bigot, this volume).
Tourism in Réunion contributes 8% to the national
economy. However, only a small proportion of this can
be directly related to the reefs. Demersal fish landings
form the major part of the fisheries at 68% (Westmacott
et al., this volume).
RODREGUES
Little is known at present about the state of the reefs of
Rodregues. The demersal fisheries provide little overall
food for the island but are an important source of employment.
Tourism at present is small scale with only
two dive facilities on the island and few hotels. However,
this is expanding rapidly (Westmacott et al., this volume).
SEYCHELLES
The coral reefs of Seychelles were possibly the worst affected
by the 1998 bleaching event. Live coral cover of
the Seychelles granitic islands have been reduced to less
than 10% on most reefs and signs of recovery are slight
with low recruitment and 35% of the sites showing no
recruitment at all (Turner et al., this volume). This has
led to the breakdown of the reef infrastructure and is
likely to result in gradual erosion of the beaches. From
the socio-economic point of view, these areas are the
most heavily utilised by tourists. Although only 7% of
the tourists visiting Seychelles dive, all participate in
some sort of reef-based activity, whether it be snorkelling
or only utilising the beaches. Fishing in Seychelles,
is an important industry, the major investment being in
the pelagic fisheries (Westmacott et al., this volume).
The lagoonal reefs in the outer islands appeared to have
adapted to fluctuations in temperatures and faired relatively
well, while the branching colonies of the shallow
reefs were severely affected (Teleki et al., this volume).
Recovery from the bleaching in Aldabra is underway as
many corals suffered only partial rather than total mortality
(Teleki et al., this volume)
At all the sites affected by the coral bleaching, the
gradual breakdown of the reef is being seen. This will
have a negative affect on the invertebrates and fish that
utilise the reef structure for shelter. Careful monitoring
of this breakdown and recovery as well as changes in the
anthropogenic impacts will enable managers to make
better informed decisions on how to cope with the consequences
of the coral bleaching. The state of the reefs
and the importance of reef fisheries and reef-based tourism
can be seen in more detail in the reports indicated in
this summary.
– 76 –