[Coral-List] Community consensus on whether or not local efforts are of value to coral reef conservation.

[Mark Eakin]

Very nice, well considered response, Les.  I think that #1 is  
actually the intent of the Reef Manager's Guide.  We have a  
tremendous number of documents citing needs to address global climate  
change.  As you and Paul Hoetjes both picked out, what I see as the  
value of the Reef Manager's Guide is that it provides tools that  
allow local managers to help corals survive in areas under their  
control.

Speaking as an individual coral reef scientist and a bit of an  
optimist, I find #1 to be the approach that we need to hold onto as  
long as any hope remains for the future of corals.  I guess that  
makes me an Option 1 kind of guy as well.  The Reef Manager's Guide  
helps with the hope with local efforts can help corals survive long  
enough to adapt.  You are right, Les. It is uncertain whether corals  
can adapt at the rate that current climate trends would require.   
Studies have clearly demonstrated that we are already committed to a  
certain amount of warming.  However, I don't want to give up until we  
know that corals are a lost cause.  I hope that we never reach that  
point.

We need to keep looking for options of what we can do to help  
corals.  The Reef Manager's Guide to Coral Bleaching is a step in  
that direction.

Cheers,
Mark


On Nov 2, 2006, at 10:31 AM, Les Kaufman wrote:

> The alternative options for action are clear.
>
> 1.  Continue international pressure to resist global climate change,
> but focus major resources on the practice of maximally enhancing the
> survival and repair potential for coral reef communities.

> 2.  Put nearly all our efforts into resisting global climate change,
> but allocate a small portion of our collective resources to
> documenting coral reef decline to provide visuals and data for our
> international efforts.
>
> We could be much more effective if we at least had some meta-
> awareness of who is allied with Option 1 versus Option 2.  Then the
> two groups could sort out and we would have something resembling a
> battle plan as an academy, with two divisions, each with some chance
> of finding its mark.
>
> I happen to be an Option 1 kind of guy.  I'd like to know who is on
> my team, and very much hope that we have a big team for Option 2 as
> well.  Then we can do both, and then we are doing everything
> possible, and then we can look our kids and grandkids in the eye and
> say with conviction that we did our best.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
------------------------
C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
e-mail: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov

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