WALLACE RESOURCE LIBRARY
Lecture 10 – Conservation of Coral
Reefs
This is an ‘example’ of a lecture that is given to A level students as part of their
academic lecture series whilst on their expedition.
It has been produced for the exclusive use of the lecturer conducting the series
and is solely intended for educational purposes.
Most of the material comes from Operation Wallacea sources and any other
material that has been used has been credited (as far as is possible) to the
appropriate author wherever possible.
This lecture is only to be used for EDUCATIONAL purposes.
WALLACE RESOURCE LIBRARY
Lecture 10 – Conservation of Coral
Reefs
Conservation of Coral Reefs
Summary
– The value of coral reefs (re-visited)
– Top down management (MPAs, zonation, ICZM)
– Bottom up management (ownership, education,
community involvement)
– Alternative livelihoods
Coral reef value – why should we care?
Income:
Habitat:
Home to more than 1 million
diverse aquatic species, including
thousands of fish species
Food:
For commercial fishing
enterprises and for people
living near coral reefs,
especially on small islands
Billions of dollars and millions
of jobs in more than 100
countries around the world
They’re
important!
Protection:
A natural barrier
protecting coastal cities,
communities, and beaches
Medicine:
Potential treatments for many of
the world's most prevalent and
dangerous illnesses and diseases
Management styles
Top-down Management
•
Management strategy is designed and implemented by an
authoritative organisation (people forced not to damage the
environment)
•
Otherwise known as “command and control”
Bottom-up Management
•
Management strategy aims to persuade people not to damage the
environment by providing incentives
•
Otherwise known as community management (or co-management)
Top-down management (command and control)
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
•
Areas, usually designated by national
governments, in which marine
resources are protected in some way
•
Considered one of the potentially
easiest ways of protecting coral reefs
•
There are currently around 2700 MPAs
in coral reef areas, covering 27% of all
coral reefs
•
Level of management can vary
enormously
The main aim of an MPA is to protect the natural environment, although
many also try to maintain sustainable exploitation
(is this image an impossible dream??)
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
•
MPAs require management effort, but many are established but never
actually managed (especially in less developed countries)
•
These are known as “Paper Parks” and this image shows how common
they are (estimated at 71% worldwide)!
Multi-Zoned Management: No Take Zones (NTAs)
•
The strictest zones are “No
Take Areas” (NTAs)
•
Multi-zoned management can
be complicated for local
communities
•
Many MPAs are divided into
zones
•
Each zone has a different
permitted amount of human
activity
The spillover effect and SLOSS
•
Fish populations are mobile
due to their larval dispersal
•
This means protected
populations (e.g. in NTAs) can
replenish nearby unprotected
reefs
•
This is known as the spillover
effect, and can be an important
source of fish recruitment
Fished Reefs
NTA
But this raises an important question: Is it better for an MPA to have a single
large NTA or several small ones?? This hotly debated topic is known as SLOSS.
What do you think?
Additional MPA zones
1. Protected Core Areas – this is not only an NTA, but a strict
sanctuary area where people often aren’t even allowed to
enter
2. Protected Marine Park Areas - non-destructive activities are
allowed, such as diving and scientific research
3. Protected Buffer Zones – lower level of protection, but targets
habitats ecologically linked to the main protected areas
Which zones are used will depend on the specific aims of the MPA
(and the budget available to police it!)
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
•
Integrated Coastal Zone Management
(ICZM) involves the management of the
whole coastal zone, rather than just the
marine component
•
This means that mangroves and
seagrass beds are included
•
It also allows coastal development to be
better managed
•
ICZM can also refer to management
which crosses boundaries (e.g. a area
that spans more than one country)
Difficulties associated with MPAs
•
MPAs are famously difficult to establish successfully, and many end up
as “Paper Parks” with no active management
•
Specific difficulties include:
1. Adequate Funding – MPAs require funding to set up, but also
regular funding to maintain protection (most successful MPAs
are self-funded through things like ecotourism)
2. Lack of compliance – Local communities are unlikely to
support top-down management (no incentive to comply)
3. Compensation - Management will almost always require local
communities to stop or reduce natural resource exploitation,
which will require some form of compensation
Bottom-up management (community-based)
The importance of ownership
•
The resources on coral reefs are traditionally “open access” meaning
that nobody has rights to them, and communities are free to exploit
them
•
This creates a scenario where stakeholders take increasing amounts
of that resource based on the theory that if they don’t then someone
else will (this is known as the “Tragedy of the Commons”)
•
If the number of people with rights to the resource becomes limited,
it is known as “restricted access”
•
Restricted access creates a sense of ownership, which encourages
stakeholders to protect the resource as they now feel it belongs to
them
Marine Conservation Agreements (MCA)
An MCA essentially provides a group/organisation with rights to the
waters through an agreement between government and them
The organisation protects the water and its ecosystems (which boosts tourism profits
to the organisation), in exchange for providing jobs and investment in local
economies (removing the need for exploitation)
Registration
•
Another great example of an ownership scheme is fisher registration
•
This is where a group of fishermen are registered to fish on a
particular coral reef
•
Generally this takes the form of registering fishing boats so they are
obviously recognisable
•
This prevents fishermen from
outside the area from fishing on
their reefs → Ownership!
•
In addition, it can be self-policing
which reduces costs
Community awareness
Awareness of environmental problems in local communities is the
best way to ensure compliance!
•
“Open access” acts as a barrier to management success, but a lack of
community awareness acts as another
•
If local communities don’t understand the threat their activities are
causing, they won’t see the point in conservation
•
Education programmes provide another incentive to comply with
management strategies
•
One method to achieve this (in the long term) is to initiate education
in local schools so the next generation are better prepared to seek
sustainability
Community involvement
•
In top-down management, there
is some form of authority that
tells local communities how their
reefs will be managed
•
But in bottom-up management,
the local communities themselves
are given the power to decide
•
Typically this form of
management begins with an
education program
•
They then enter into the management process alongside scientific
advisors and local government representatives to plan the
management strategy themselves
Alternative livelihoods
•
If we want local communities to reduce their resource exploitation,
we have to provide them with alternatives
•
Ideally these alternatives should satisfy all the same needs as the
original (economic, food security, cultural)
•
Without alternative livelihoods, local communities will simply return
to fishing regardless of rules, laws or management
•
The most important thing is that they must be ALTERNATIVE and not
simply ADDITIONAL livelihoods
•
If successful, they can provide huge benefits to the whole
community (economic development as well as conservation)
Alternative livelihoods: Ecotourism
•
In recent years there has been a boom
in people wanting ecotourism holidays
(where they experience the natural
environment)
•
This has provided a new source of
income in many areas of the tropics
•
The main problem is avoiding all the
profits ending up in a businessman’s
pockets
•
It is important that local communities
benefit, either through job
opportunities, or in small businesses like
homestays
Alternative livelihoods: Business model
•
Coral mining has been going on for
decades to provide coral for the
aquaria trade
•
Traditionally this involves destroying
large areas of reef
•
However, local communities in some
areas have started to farm coral
fragments to sell to aquaria owners
•
Growing coral is difficult in an
aquaria, but here the natural
environment is used
Alternative livelihoods: Business model
•
Seaweed is extensively farmed throughout
Southeast Asia to produce hydrocolloids
•
Typically sold for a very small amount by the
farmers to a middleman who makes a large
profit at the factory
•
Operation Wallacea are involved in
developing a new method to process
seaweed
•
It can be carried out locally, keeping the
profits within the community, making
seaweed farming more profitable
Watch this space!!
Local vs. global conservation
•
This lecture has described ways of managing tropical marine
environments from local threats (particularly resource extraction
and coastal development)
•
However this is only part of the problem, and successfully
implementing these ideas will only give some protection to coral
reefs and their connected biomes
•
Global threats are a major issue, and they have to be tackled at a
global level (sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, UVB
damage etc.)
That doesn’t mean we should stop trying – the fewer threats faced
by coral reefs, the greater the chance they will cope with them!
Conservation of Coral Reefs
Summary
– The value of coral reefs (re-visited)
– Top down management (MPAs, zonation, ICZM)
– Bottom up management (ownership, education,
community involvement)
– Alternative livelihoods
Questions?