Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T06:54:29.901Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Coral reef conservation and political will

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2014

PETER F. SALE
PETER F. SALE*
Affiliation:
Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, CanadaN9B3P4
*
*Correspondence: Peter Sale Tel: +1 705 764 3359 e-mail: sale@uwindsor.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Coral reefs and their societal benefits are in decline, chiefly due to overfishing, pollution and inappropriate coastal development. Strengthened management is possible, but collective failure to build the needed political will to act diminishes lives of millions of people along tropical coasts. Political will can be built, but it requires committed leadership and sustained investment of time and resources. Accepting failure as inevitable is inappropriate.

Type
Comment
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 97 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aburto-Oropeza, O., Erisman, B., Galland, G.R., Mascareñas-Osorio, I., Sala, E. & Ezcurra, E. (2011) Large recovery of fish biomass in a no-take marine reserve. PlosOne 6 (8): e23601. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023601 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradbury, R. (2012) A world without coral reefs. The New York Times 14 July 2012: A17 [www document]. URL http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/opinion/a-world-without-coral-reefs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& Also comment by Andrew Revkin on his blog: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/reefs-in-the-anthropocene-zombie-ecology/?ref=opinion Google Scholar
Brander, L.M., Van Beukering, P. & Cesar, H.S.J. (2007) The recreational value of coral reefs: a meta-analysis. Ecological Economics 63: 209–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chin, A., Lison De Loma, T., Reytar, K., Planes, S., Gerhardt, K., Clua, E., Burke, L. & Wilkinson, C. (2011) Status of Coral Reefs of the Pacific and Outlook: 2011. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network: 260 pp. [www document]. URL http://www.icriforum.org/sites/default/files/Pacific-Coral-Reefs-2011.pdf Google Scholar
Christie, P., Lowry, K., White, A.T., Oracion, E.G., Sievanen, L., Pomeroy, R.S., Pollnac, R.B., Patlis, J. & Eisma, L. (2005) Key findings from a multidisciplinary examination of integrated coastal management process sustainability. Ocean and Coastal Management 48: 468–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christie, P., Pollnac, R.B., Fluharty, D.L., Hixon, M.A., Lowry, G.K., Mahon, R., Pietri, D., Tissot, B.N., White, A.T., Armada, N. & Eisma-Osorio, R.L. (2009) Tropical marine EBM feasibility: a synthesis of case studies and comparative analyses. Coastal Management 37: 374–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunning, R.C. & Baker, A.C. (2012) Excess algal symbionts increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching. Nature Climate Change 3: 259–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Olivo, J.P., McCulloch, M.T. & Judd, K. (2013) Long-term records of coral calcification across the central Great Barrier Reef: assessing the impacts of river runoff and climate change. Coral Reefs 32: 999–1012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De’ath, G., Fabricius, K.E., Sweatman, H. & Puotinen, M. (2012) The 27–year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109: 17995–17999.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doney, S.C., Fabry, V.J., Feely, R.A. & Kleypas, K.A. (2009) Ocean acidification: the other CO2 problem. Annual Review of Marine Science 1: 169–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dove, S.G., Kline, D.I., Pantos, O., Angly, F.E., Tyson, G.W. & Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2013) Future reef decalcification under a business-as-usual CO2 emission scenario. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 110: 15342–15347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgar, G.J., Stuart-Smith, R.D., Willis, T.J., Kininmonth, S., Baker, S.C., Banks, S., Barrett, N.S., Becerro, M.A., Bernard, A.T.F., Berkhout, J., Buxton, C.D., Campbell, S.J., Cooper, A.T., Davey, M., Edgar, S.C., Försterra, G., Galván, D.E., Irigoyen, A.J., Kushner, D.J., Moura, R., Parnell, P.E., Shears, N.T., Soler, G., Strain, E.M.A. & Thomson, R.J. (2014) Global conservation outcomes depend on marine protected areas with five key features. Nature 506: 216–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glynn, P.W. (1997) Bioerosion and coral reef growth: a dynamic balance. In: Life and Death of Coral Reefs, ed. Birkeland, C., pp. 69–98. New York, NY, USA: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Graham, N.A.J. & McClanahan, T.R. (2013) The last call for marine wilderness. Bioscience 63: 397–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutiérrez, N.L., Hilborn, R. & Defeo, O. (2011) Leadership, social capital and incentives promote successful fisheries. Nature 470: 386–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Mumby, P.J., Hooten, A.J., Steneck, R.S., Greenfield, P., Gomez, E., Harvell, C.D., Sale, P.F., Edwards, A.J., Caldeira, K., Knowlton, N., Eakin, C.M., Iglesias-Prieto, R., Muthiga, N., Bradbury, R.H., Dubi, A. & Hatziolos, M.E. (2007) The carbon crisis: coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318: 1737–1742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horigue, V., Aliño, P.M., White, A.T. & Pressey, R.L. (2012) Marine protected area networks in the Philippines: trends and challenges for establishment and governance. Coastal and Ocean Management 64: 15–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, J., Donovan, M., Cramer, K. & Lam, V., eds (2014) Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970–2012. Washington, DC, USA: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, c/o International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Global Marine and Polar Program: 243 pp.Google Scholar
Kelleher, G., Bleakley, C. & Wells, S. (1995) A Global Representative System of Marine Protected Areas. Townsville, Australia, Washington, DC, USA and Gland, Switzerland: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, World Bank and IUCN.Google Scholar
McClanahan, T.R., Cinner, J.E., Graham, N.A.J., Daw, T.M., Maina, J., Stead, S.M., Wamukota, A., Brown, K., Venus, V. & Polunin, N.V.C. (2009) Identifying reefs of hope and hopeful actions: contextualizing environmental, ecological, and social parameters to respond effectively to climate change. Conservation Biology 23: 662–671.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCook, L.J., Almany, G.R., Berumen, M.L., Day, J.C., Green, A.L., Jones, G.P., Leis, J.M., Planes, S., Russ, G.R., Sale, P.F. & Thorrold, S.R. (2009) Management under uncertainty: guidelines for incorporating connectivity into the protection of coral reefs. Coral Reefs 28: 353–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCook, L.J., Ayling, T., Cappo, M., Choat, J.H., Evans, R.D., De Freitas, D.M., Heupel, M., Hughes, T.P., Jones, G.P., Mapstone, B., Marsh, H., Mills, M., Molloy, F.J., Pitcher, C.R., Pressey, R.L., Russ, G.B., Sutton, S., Sweatman, H., Tobin, R., Wachenfeld, D.R. & Williamson, D.H. (2010) Adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef: a globally significant demonstration of the benefits of networks of marine reserves. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107: 18278–18285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McField, M.D. & Kramer, P.R. (2006) The healthy Mesoamerican reef ecosystem initiative: a conceptual framework for evaluating reef ecosystem health. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, Okinawa, Japan, June 2004, pp. 1118–1123. Japanese Coral Reef Society in collaboration with the International Society for Reef Studies, Okinawa, Japan.Google Scholar
Pandolfi, J.M., Connolly, S.R., Marshall, D.J. & Cohen, A.L. (2011) Projecting coral reef futures under global warming and ocean acidification. Science 333: 418–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodolfo-Metalpa, R., Hoogenboom, M.O., Rottier, C., Ramos-Espla, A., Baker, A.C., Fine, M. & Ferrier-Pagès, C. (2014) Thermally tolerant corals have limited capacity to acclimatize to future warming. Global Change Biology 20: 3036–3049.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sale, P.F. (2008) Management of coral reefs: where we have gone wrong and what we can do about it. Marine Pollution Bulletin 56: 805–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sale, P.F. (2011) Our Dying Planet: An Ecologist's View of the Crisis We Face. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sale, P.F., Agardy, T., Ainsworth, C.H., Feist, B.E., Bell, J.D., Christie, P., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Mumby, P.J., Feary, D.A., Saunders, M.I., Daw, T.M., Foale, S.J., Levin, P.S., Lindeman, K.C., Lorenzen, K., Pomeroy, R.S., Allison, E.H., Bradbury, R.H., Corrin, J., Edwards, A.J., Obura, D.O., Sadovy de Mitcheson, Y.J., Samoily, M.A. & Sheppard, C.R.C. (2014) Transforming management of tropical coastal seas to cope with challenges of the 21st century. Marine Pollution Bulletin 85: 8–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanzil, J.T.I., Brown, B.E., Dunne, R.P., Lee, J.N., Kaandorp, J.A. & Todd, P.A. (2013) Regional decline in growth rates of massive Porites corals in Southeast Asia. Global Change Biology 19: 3011–3023. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12279 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, A.T., Christie, P., D’Agnes, H., Lowry, K. & Milne, N. (2005) Designing ICM projects for sustainability: lessons from the Philippines and Indonesia. Ocean and Coastal Management 48: 271–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, C.R., ed. (2008) Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008. Townsville, Australia: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef and Rainforest Research Centre: 296 pp.Google Scholar
Wooldridge, S.A. (2009) Water quality and coral bleaching thresholds: formalising the linkage for the inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin 58: 745–751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Sale Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Sale Supplementary Material(File)
File 11.8 KB