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* Note to our Readers * CEPNews will continue to be distributed gratis. It will be distributed in English only and later in Spanish and French depending on the availability of in-kind or cash contributions to cover the translation and printing costs. Thank you for your understanding. |
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Status of the Coral Reefs of the Wider Caribbean As this editorial is being prepared over 1400 coral reef experts, scientists, managers and conservationists representing governments, NGOs, academic and research institutions, and international organisations are meeting in Bali at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium (23 - 27 October 2000) to discuss global coral reef status and management strategies. The next issue of CEPnews should have information on the outcome of the Symposium. The UNEP-CAR/RCU Secretariat, as regional contact point for the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) in the Tropical Americas, is very pleased to inform you that the region was able to produce, for the first time, current and consolidated sub-regional reports for the Tropical Americas (Wider Caribbean plus northern Brasil) on the status of its reefs for presentation at this major event in Bali. Sub-regional reports were prepared for the Eastern Caribbean, Northern Caribbean and Western Atlantic, Northern Central America, and Southern Tropical America sub-regions. These reports were prepared thanks to the support from the US Government, the World Bank, the GEF (through the CPACC project), the UK Government, and UNEP. These reports have also been recently published as part of the publication Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000 of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN). The sub-regional reports were the result of intensive work done during 1999-2000 by experts from the region, from national and research institutions, as well as NGOs and with the collaboration and overall co-ordination of the GCRMN and UNEP-CAR/RCU Secretariat. Each sub-regional report gives the location of reefs by country, describes the status of the reef benthos, describes the status of coral reef fish and fishery, describes the anthropogenic threats to coral reef biodiversity, reports on potential climate change impacts, informs on the marine protected areas and management capacity, presents an overview of government policies, laws and legislation, states the gaps in monitoring and conservation capacity, and makes conclusions and recommendations for coral reef conservation.All the sub-regional reports conclude that coral reef degradation has continued in the Tropical Americas, with some areas showing more impacts due to anthropogenic changes but also natural causes. Common threats and impacts include: pollution from the development of coastal areas and changes in land use practices and overfishing due to increasing demand from local populations; and tourism. |
In the Eastern and Southern Caribbean sedimentation of inshore waters seems to be a major problem while overfishing is the most wide spread impact for the Northern Caribbean and Western Atlantic and the second major problem for the Southern Caribbean sub-region. The problem is particularly acute in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic where narrow fringing reefs are easily accessible by fishers. In Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos islands where there are broad shelves the fish stocks are less depleted. Natural causes (possibly man-induced) such as the mass mortality of the sea urchin in the mid-1980s are still apparent with the excessive growth of macroalgae and the spread of coral diseases. White band disease in Acropora spp. has led to catastrophic declines in coral cover and in the late 1990s coral bleaching was severe in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Cuba although mortality appears to be low. This is also true for the Northern Central America sub-region
where these recent large-scale climatic events (coral bleaching has been attributed to sea
temperature rise due to the El Niño phenomenon) have had a tremendous impact on coral
reefs, including hurricane Mitch in 1998. All these events heavily impacted reefs from the
Mexican Yucatan to Honduras. Coral cover loss was estimated at 15-20% across the region
with losses as high as 75% in parts of Belize and the less developed reefs of the Mexican
Pacific suffered 40-50% coral mortality during the La Niña related cold water event. On
the other hand, although in Southern Tropical America bleaching events have increased in
frequency in the 1990s these seemed to have decreased in severity. Nevertheless,
considerable levels of coral cover can still be found at numerous locations of both
Caribbean (20-40%) and Pacific (above 40%) coasts of this sub-region. |
However, there is increasing local awareness of the need for conservation and all countries, except Haiti, have now declared Marine Protected Areas. The conservation and sustainable use of marine resources is becoming a higher priority in countries of northern Central America. This is embodied in the 1997 Tulum Declaration which has resulted in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras co-operating to conserve and manage their reefs and resolve cross-boundary management issues. It was observed that the participatory approach to planning and management appear to offer an effective alternative to traditional centralised management in a region where many islands are faced with balancing the needs of coastal communities, the expansion of water based tourism, and the maintenance of a limited resource base. In recent years, support through the UNEP-CAR/RCU and the CPACC project has allowed a number of countries with limited resources e.g. (Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago) to begin implementing monitoring activities. Monitoring programmes are based on a selection of methods suited to their current capacities, e.g. the ReefCheck Protocol. Capacity for monitoring in northern Central America varies from advanced (Mexico, Belize, and Honduras) to non-existent (Guatemala and Nicaragua). Only a minor proportion of the southern Tropical America area is now being monitored (e.g. only a few sites in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela) so there is a need to expand monitoring programmes. All sub-regional reports conclude that, it is critical that specific government policies and laws for coral reef sustainable management and the effective protection of marine parks and reserves take place within the next few years. It is also important that the funding and support for coral reef research, monitoring and management by national governments and international agencies be increased. Stakeholder participation is essential for the protection and conservation of marine resources within the region. For more information, please contact:Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri Programme Officer UNEP-CAR/RCU 14-20 Port Royal Street Kingston, Jamaica Tel: (876) 922-9267 Fax: (876) 922-9292 E-mail: avk.uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com Internet : http://www.cep.unep.org |
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