GCRMN Pilot Monitoring Study - 2nd note

[Clive Wilkinson]

GLOBAL CORAL REEF MONITORING NETWORK (GCRMN)

Last October, the notice below was posted onto the list. In all, about  28
institutions or individuals signed up or enquired, as follows:

CARIBBEAN:
Peter Sale, Canada - Mexico and Cuba
Paul Sammarco, Louisiana - around Gulf of Mexico
Susie Westmacott - Curacao
Ellen McRae, The Siwa-ban Foundation - Belize
Ursula Keuper-Bennett - Deadman's Bay, British Virgin Islands 
Daniel  Shapiro, Cornell University, Ithaca- Quintana Roo Mexico 
Kalli De Meyer, Bonaire Marine Park - Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Deborah Brosnan, Sustainable Ecosystems Inst. Oregon - Montserrat, St Barths
Kenneth Deslarzes - Gulf of Mexico


EAST ASIAN SEAS
Put O. Ang, Chinese University of Hong Kong - New Territories, Hong Kong 
Ian Dutton, Jakarta Indonesia -  North Sulawesi 
Andre Uychiaoco, Southern Philippines - Negros and Cebu
Chou Loke Ming, National University of Singapore - Singapore and SE Asia
Massimo Boyer,  Kuda Laut Project, Indonesia - Manado, Sulawesi
Irfan Seiff, Biology Diving Club, Jakarta - Pulau Seribu, Ujung Kulon 
Australian Institute of Marine Science - SE Asia

PACIFIC
Tony Larkum, University of Sydney - Great Barrier Reef
Cindy Hunter, Hawaii - Hanauma Bay etc. Ofu, American Samoa
Andrew Smith, Palau - Palau
Vanessa Craig, University of Otago, New Zealand -  Fiji
Australian Institute of Marine Science - GBR
Jacqueline Evans, Cook Islands - Cook Islands

SOUTH ASIA
Sujeewa Jasinghe, Kelaniya University, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka

WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN AND EASTERN AFRICA
Charles Sheppard, UK - Chagos and ? Maldives, Seychelles?

MIDDLE EAST/ GULFS
Alec Dawson Shepherd, Hunting Aquatic Resources, UK - Red Sea

The first announcement is being re-issued as there are some gaps in the
Pilot project - are there any more institutions or individuals wanting to
sign up?

The publication of the new Manual has been delayed - so I recommend that
people use the Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources (Eds. English,
Wilkinson and Baker, published by AIMS in 1994). If you do not have a copy,
please advise.

I am preparing suggested monitoring protocols and data sheets for
distribution. These will be sent out when the list is finalised - the
monitoring schedule will now slip to January to August, but we will still
try to release data to coincide with the IYOR meetings planned for June and
July.


Original Message:
Pilot Monitoring Programme of the IOC-UNEP-IUCN Global Coral Reef Monitoring 
Network: we are launching a one-off pilot programme to monitor reefs around 
the world.  We invite you to participate.

This call is to marine research groups, senior researchers and others who
have experience in monitoring coral reefs, particularly in several different
coral reef regions.

Our goals are to:

establish a cooperative network;

demonstrate to governments, donors and the science community that a network 
can function; and

assist developing countries get started in reef monitoring.

We shall ask you to monitor at least one site in your country and a parallel 
one with developing country scientists between January 1997 and August 1997;
then pool the data so that we can report a snapshot view of reef status as 
part of the International Year of the Reef in June 1997. Methods and protocols 
will either be provided by electronic mail or are in the Manual (see below) 
now being revised for a 2nd printing.

It is probable that sites monitored this time will constitute the basis for
a global system of regular long-term monitoring.

HISTORY

The concept of global coral reef monitoring has been discussed for many 
years. It culminated in June 1992 in Guam, at the 7th International Coral 
Reef Symposium when many reef scientists and managers reported their 
willingness to participate in a 'snapshot' global reef monitoring programme.
But there was no money to get it started.

METHODS

Methods from the Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources (Eds. English, 
Wilkinson and Baker, published by AIMS) from the ASEAN-Australia Living 
Coastal Resources Project will form the basis for monitoring.  These were 
chosen as the 'standards' by the UNEP-IOC-WMO-IUCN Meeting of Experts on a 
Long-Term Global Monitoring System of Coastal and Near-Shore Phenomena 
Related to Climate Change, Pilot Projects on Mangroves and Coral Reefs, 
December 1991, and confirmed by the UNEP-IOC-IUCN-ASPEI Global Task Team 
on the Implications of Climate Change on Coral Reefs in 1992.  However,
during this Pilot project, any comparable methods will be acceptable.

These biophysical monitoring methods include:
manta tow (or equivalent for a broad perspective);

line intercept transect with identification at a minimum of 'lifeform' level 
(or equivalent transect method to gather % cover data); and

fish censusing,  with emphasis on fisher target species and indicator fish, 
like butterfly (chaetodont) fish.

Reporting should also include specific events and activities e.g. bleaching, 
predators, dynamite damage, urchin populations etc. Data on these are being
accumulated by several groups, coordinated by Bob Ginsburg in Miami, Gregor 
Hodgson in Hong Kong, and John McManus of ReefBase in Manila.

A comparable set of socioeconomic parameters are being assembled.

THE GCRMN

The GCRMN was re-catalysed by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) 
to provide Research and Monitoring information on coral reefs and related 
ecosystems for more efficient management and long-term conservation.  The 
GCRMN has 3 co-sponsors (IOC, UNEP and IUCN), two hosts (AIMS and ICLARM) 
and interacts closely with the ICRI Secretariat.

The overall objectives of the GCRMN are to:

     improve the conservation, management and sustainable uses
     of coral reefs and related ecosystems for peoples of the
     tropics and the world through assessing the trends in
     biophysical status and social, cultural and economic
     values of these ecosystems;

     provide many people with the capacity to assess their
     resources and integrate these people into a global
     network to document and disseminate data on reef status
     and trends.

The GCRMN is based on the following principles:

emphasise the involvement of local communities;

put equal emphasis on biophysical and social, cultural and economic data;

function through existing organisations, networks, and monitoring 
programmes, not create new bodies;

offer a standard methodology, but be responsive to wishes of participants;

often focus monitoring in current or planned Marine Protected Areas and 
adjacent unprotected areas;

ensure that data are accessible to all in an understandable format.

CONTACT

If you want more information, please look up the web site -

http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/gcrmn/gcrmn.html

To subscribe to the GCRMN listserver, send e-mail to
majordomo at reef.aoml.noaa.gov, with the following message (only!) in the
body of the text:
       ---- subscribe gcrmn ----

To sign up for the Pilot programme - contact:

Dr Clive Wilkinson, Coordinator, Global Coral Reef Monitoring
Network, c/o Australian Institute of Marine Science
PMB No. 3, TOWNSVILLE MC  4810, AUSTRALIA
Tel:      +61 77 534 372 or +61 77 724 314
Fax:      +61 77 722 808 or +61 77 725 852
e-mail:   c.wilkinson at aims.gov.au

or

Dr John McManus, ReefBase Project Leader
International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management,
MCPO Box 2631, 0718 MAKATI, Metro Manila, PHILIPPINES
Tel:      +63 2 818 0466 or +63 2 817 5255
Fax:      +63 2 816 3183
e-mail:   j.mcmanus at cgnet.com

Clive Wilkinson, Coordinator
Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
Tel: +61 77 724314; Fax: +61 77 722808 or 725852