March 2, 2000

The Honorable Bruce Babbit
Co-Chair, Coral Reef Task Force
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W., Room 6151
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dr. D. James Baker
Co-Chair, Coral Reef Task Force
U.S. Department of Commerce
14th and Constitution Avenue NW, Room 5128
Washington, D.C. 20230

On March 2, the Clinton Administration will unveil a landmark plan to protect our nation’s and the world’s endangered coral reefs.  This first-ever National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs marks a bold first step.  Stimulated by the President’s 1998 Coral Reef Executive Order and developed over two years by the Coral Reef Task Force (CRTF) the Executive Order created, the plan clearly identifies the tremendous values of coral reefs, the extraordinary threats facing them, and the urgent need to conserve them.  Furthermore, it identifies key strategies, core principles, and priority actions to halt and reverse their decline.  The Administration and the Task Force deserve praise for their valuable work to date, and we must ensure that it was not done in vain.

To deliver on the plan’s promise of protecting these vital habitats for future generations, the American public, the Administration, and the Congress must build on the leadership demonstrated in drafting this plan throughout the difficult task of implementing its noteworthy vision.  The plan provides an appropriately strong vision and identifies the correct broad strategies, but it will require strengthening some of these strategies, fleshing out details, and the provision of adequate resources to be successful.   The following elements are particularly deserving of emphasis and broad public support in either their current form or with additional strengthening as discussed below: 

1.	Fully protect at least 20% of the nation’s coral reefs from extractive uses by the year 2010- One of the strongest elements of the plan sets a goal to permanently protect at least 20% of all U.S. coral reefs in marine reserve or  “no-take” protected areas by the year 2010, with specific interim benchmarks to measure progress.  Such a marine protected area network would be based on scientific analyses and stakeholder input to devise fair and equitable solutions that provide the greatest benefits to the nation while recognizing regional and local concerns.  Recent progress on the Tortugas Ecological Reserve in Florida and the Red Hind Marine Conservation Area in the USVI indicate that such an approach will be successful, but adequate resources and commitment must be provided.

2.	Reduce pollution and habitat destruction- The emphasis on these threats in the plan is warranted, but unfortunately, the plan does not provide similarly tangible protection goals or benchmarks for measuring success as the above element.. The public should demand and the Task Force commit to implementing more concrete measures aimed at reducing these threats, particularly nutrient and sediment pollution from both point sources and polluted runoff.

3.	Improve mapping and monitoring of coral reefs- Better mapping of coral reef ecosystems and monitoring of their condition would provide the underpinnings for improved conservation and measuring success.  The plan includes a number of worthwhile elements in this regard ranging from improved coral reef habitat mapping for both Caribbean and Pacific regions to low cost volunteer monitoring programs that involve divers and others in assessing reef conditions (such as the RECON project) to biennial reports on the State of American Coral Reef Ecosystems.

4.	Manage coral harvesting and end destructive collecting practices- The plan directs the U.S. to reduce the unsustainable commercial extraction of reef resources and its resultant habitat destruction.  The U.S. will restrict commercial collection of coral and “live rock” throughout U.S. waters and phase-in a ban on the use of cyanide in collecting reef products.  However, because of the critical importance of coral and “live rock” to the vitality of coral reef ecosystems, the task force should consider whether a comprehensive ban on commercial collecting would be more appropriate.

5.	Increase funding for coral reef conservation- The action plan does not address specific funding needs to ensure its success, but it is clear that substantially increased funding will be necessary to achieve its goals.  The Administration has requested some increased funding in its FY2001 budget for this purpose and these should be provided, but even these increases are small with respect to both the value of our coral reef resources and the severity of their plight.  The public, Congress, and the Administration should support much higher levels of funding to ensure the plan’s success. 

The National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs puts the United States on a path towards ensuring a representative portion of these habitats are permanently protected, that all U.S. reefs are better managed and conserved, and that the U.S. leads international conservation efforts.  

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse, valuable, and vulnerable marine habitats on the earth.  Tens of thousands of species have been identified on coral reefs, and estimates suggest that coral reefs may be home to more than nine million species of plants and animals.  Over half of all managed fishery species in the United States spend important parts of their lives on or around coral reefs.  Some of the most promising biotechnological innovations in the future may come from coral reef species.  Tourism, commercial and subsistence fishing, and the “intangible” benefits of reefs, such as the protection of coastal communities and ports from storms, provide economic benefits estimated to be in excess of $375 billion per year worldwide.

Yet coral reefs worldwide, like those in the United States, are extremely vulnerable and in danger of being destroyed.  Water pollution from oil spills, sewage outfalls, and nonpoint source pollution; overfishing; overexploitation for commercial trade in coral reef products and from biotechnological collecting; habitat destruction from fishing gear, ship groundings and anchoring; and coral bleaching from rising global water temperatures all threaten coral reefs.  Approximately 10% of the world’s reefs have already been destroyed, and an additional 60% are threatened with destruction in the next 50 years.  

We commend this Administration for its leadership in adopting a precautionary approach to coral reef conservation. But the “real” work, for this Administration as well as those who come after it, will be in the plan’s implementation.  This depends upon two critical factors.  First, the Congress must appropriate adequate funding, beginning this year, to carry out this plan.  Coral reefs cannot be saved by plans alone.  And second, this and the next Administration must remain committed to continuing the work now begun.  We have laid out an ambitious and indispensable plan of action for the next ten years: now we must carry it out.