News & Updates Coral Reef News Coral Triangle Rescue Plan Gathers Momentum
Dec
14
2008
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 Spread across a vast swath of ocean spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and the Solomon Islands -- an area half the size of the United States -- the Coral Triangle has the highest diversity of marine life of any area on Earth. This "Amazon of the Seas," as it has been called by the WWF, contains three quarters of the world's known coral species, a third of the world's coral reefs, more than 3,000 species of fish, and the world's richest mangrove forests. Home to more than 150 million people, the Coral Triangle generates billions of dollars in sea products each year, supporting the livelihood of more than two million fishers. The region is a major spawning ground for tuna, yellowfin and other valuable species that contribute to a perhaps as much as a third of the regional economy. But all this is at risk from overfishing (including destructive fishing using dynamite and cyanide), coral bleaching and ocean acidification, tourism (including scuba diving), pollution, and sedimentation due to coastal development.  That is why scientists and policy makers from interested nations are gathered in Australia this week to move forward with the development of urgent action plans to rescue the world's richest center of marine biodiversity from decline. Marine scientists from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) at James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) announced yesterday that they are assisting the largest reef conservation program ever undertaken: The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security.
The six Coral Triangle countries agreed to the program at a meeting in Manila, Philippines, last month. It is hoped that it will be signed by heads of state at the World Ocean Conference in Indonesia next May.
 "This is a critical initiative by many countries, acting together for the first time, to sustain the livelihoods of millions of people," he said. "In developing countries, millions of local people suffer real hardship when reefs and ocean habitats are degraded. There is a social and economic imperative to protect them."  The CTI has a current global commitment projected to be at least $U.S. 500 million and its plan of action includes:
 Source: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2008/11/coral-triangle-rescue.html |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 January 2009 17:54 |
