[Coral-List] Help Us Understand the Beauty of Coral Reefs

Mon May 29 22:01:11 UTC 2023

An excellent description of what has happened in Grand Cayman (been diving
there since 1994). If we were doing triage on the reefs of the world, I'd
say let those that used to surround Grand Cayman go. RIP.

On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 4:39 PM International Coral Reef Observatory via
Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Thanks for reminding us that meeting at the University of Miami, Alina, yes
> I participated in that meeting too.
> About your question:  How did that work out for coral reefs?????
> In our case studies, we have found that developers always promise to hire
> local fishers, diving operators and their families or support them to begin
> small compensation projects, while they must sign they will allow any
> imposed development in their coral reef area. Fishers go from being
> independent artisanal fishers to become dependent servants of the
> developers. Overfishing continues with larger boats and the big hotels as
> the buyers of the fishery's production and main polluters to the coral
> reefs. Now the restoration projects are also being included in the
> justification package for unsustainable development. Local diving operators
> have to invite new customers by showing old videos when the coral reefs
> were alive or healthy...it is necessary that scientists and
> environmental activists join in campaigns to stop clear threats to coral
> reefs. We should stop being part of local and global mass tourism on coral
> reef areas (unsustainable development). Science has taught us that to
> improve conservation, it is urgent to agree on basic concepts of coral reef
> conservation to avoid contradictions and controversial local decisions that
> will affect the integrity of coral reefs worldwide.
>
> Sincerely,
> Nohora Galvis
> ICRS World Reef Award Winner
> ICRO Transdisciplinary Researcher
> International Coral Reef Observatory
> Follow us on Facebook.com/ICRObservatory
> and ICR_Observatory on Twitter / Instagram / YouTube
>
>
> El dom, 28 may 2023 a las 10:05, Alina Szmant via Coral-List (<
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>) escribió:
>
> > Hello Mark:
> >
> > In 1993 I helped Bob Ginsburg with the Global Aspects of corals Reefs:
> > Health, Hazards and History colloquium he organized at the University of
> > Miami.  Researchers came from all over and presented their case studies.
> > On the 3rd day of the Colloquium there was a session about measures and
> > policies that could be used to help save coral reefs and ecotourism was
> > applauded by many as the solution for a number of reasons.  I clearly
> > recall feeling alarmed at the prospect of millions of people flocking to
> > thousands of hotels built along 100s of km of coral reef coastline and
> > spoke out against the concept. Boy was I shot down. The economics of
> > developing coral reef ecotourism to help all of the poor people living
> near
> > coral reefs won the day!!! This was going to help prevent overfishing the
> > nearby reefs because the locals would have have new ways of making a
> living
> > rather than depending on coral reefs for food, barter goods and building
> > materials.
> >
> >  How did that work out for coral reefs?????
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr. Alina M. Szmant,  CEO
> > CISME Instruments LLC
> >
> >
> >
> > -------- Original message --------
> > From: Mark Tupper via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> > Date: 5/27/23 5:05 PM (GMT-05:00)
> > To: Phillip Dustan <phil.dustan at gmail.com>
> > Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Help Us Understand the Beauty of Coral Reefs
> >
> > Phil, you hit it on the head. People are more likely to exploit what they
> > love than protect it. Beautiful reefs, beaches, etc draw people like a
> > magnet, leading to hotels, restaurants, dive shops, glass-bottom boat
> > tours, increased fishing pressure to support said hotels and restaurants,
> > sewage, plastic and other debris, and habitat destruction from coastal
> > development.
> >
> > I watched this happen over a decade in Coron, Philippines. When I started
> > surveys there in 2007, there were 3 hotels, a handful of tour operators,
> > and maybe 30 cars on the island. By 2017, there were 53 hotels, several
> > dozen tour operators, and about 3500 cars. The nearby reefs in Coron Bay
> > that were stunning in 2007 were mostly trashed by 2017. I had to travel
> at
> > least an hour to find healthy reefs with decent fish biomass.
> >
> > This same pattern is repeated globally. Coron is just one of many sites
> > that has been "loved to death". Not to sound too flippant, but perhaps we
> > should portray reefs as dangerous, nasty, scary places so people leave
> them
> > alone.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > On Sat, 27 May 2023, 12:02 Phillip Dustan via Coral-List, <
> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> >
> > >  I Agree. I was a co-author on this paper. My photo time-series of
> > > Carysfort Reef were used to help validate the algorithm.
> > > https://biospherefoundation.org/project/coral-reef-change/
> > >
> > > However, there is a greater logical flaw in your thinking. For years
> the
> > > mantra has been "People only protect what they love"
> > > Cousteau popularized the idea and he always believed that it worked
> but I
> > > think it is fair to say that the current state of affairs is that
> either
> > > people do not love reefs or the idea is false.
> > > Everyone treats coral reefs as a resource that provides goods and
> > services
> > > to humans when in fact reefs need all their productivity to maintain
> > > themselves.
> > > Reefs are living processes and that is what makes them beautiful to
> > humans,
> > > a healthy reef glows with life.
> > > This can be quantified with image processing but that does not seem to
> > add
> > > to their conservation unfortunately.
> > > Guess they need more than the perception of love to be allowed to exist
> > in
> > > the Anthropocene..........
> > > Phil
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list

-- 
Elizabeth Sherman, PhD.
Professor of Biology, *Emerita*
*Website* <https://www.bennington.edu/academics/faculty/elizabeth-sherman>
Sea urchins, parrotfish and coral reefs in Grand Cayman, BWI: exemplar or
outlier <https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.11.421867v1>

*As coral reefs go, so goes the planet.*