[Coral-List] Why we are failing to repair coral reefs

Georgina Bustamante gbustamante09 at gmail.com
Mon Oct 27 10:43:56 EDT 2014


Dear coral scientists and managers,

I am a reef fish ecologist that coordinates a network of marine protected
area practitioners and had a vibrant capacity building program for
strengthening marine managed areas. We expect them to help restore coastal
ecosystems. We also assist young fishers to transit to  alternative
livelihoods to reduce fishing  pressure  and become allies of those MMAs.

Thise young people  have decades ahead, so I want  (and prefer)  to convey
messages to stimulate their creativity rather than the depressive side of
their brain. It also keeps me young.

Do you have any advice for me?

Georgina Bustamante, Ph.D.
Coordinator

Caribbean  Marine Protected Area Management (CaMPAM) Network and Forum
The UNEP-CEP capacity building program for MPA managers and stakeholders

GCFI Board of Directors (www.gcfi.org)

Hollywood, Florida, USA
Tel./fax (request) +1 (954) 963-3626
Mobile +1 (305) 297-6995
email: gbustamante09 at gmail.com

skype: yoyibustamante

CaMPAM web site: http://campam.gcfi.org/campam.php

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  On Oct 27, 2014 6:22 AM, "Pedro M Alcolado" <gmalcolado at gmail.com> wrote:

> I support these Doug's excellent considerations! They strengthen hope
> and call to action in a really depressing ongoing coral reef (and
> world) situation. It is just what we need to keep moving forward and
> convince the relevant sectors.
> Best wishes to all,
> Pedro
>
> On 10/23/14, Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus published "An Essay on the Principle of
> > Population" in 1798, arguing that either death or birth control would
> > inevitably limit population, with starvation, disease, and war being the
> > main agents of death.  His essay was read by both Darwin and Wallace, and
> > was part of the stimulation for their theory of evolution.  For animals
> and
> > plants, individuals reproduce as much as they can, and greatly exceed
> > carrying capacity, such that it is inevitable that many if not most young
> > will die.  See the many Wikipedia articles on Malthus.  Many have
> predicted
> > catastrophe due to population growth, such as the Club of Rome's book
> > "Limits to Growth" published in 1972, but it hasn't happened.  Club of
> > Rome's newer books and predictions are more optimistic, saying many of
> the
> > limiters are things we control and can change (see Wikipedia's article on
> > them).  Human population has continued to grow, and people are poorer
> than
> > they would be if it hadn't grown as fast as it did, but countries like
> > China and India which have had periods of starvation in the past do not
> > have those now.
> >      If only the death control part of Malthus' essay is considered, his
> > prediction appears to have failed in the 200+ years since he made it.  I
> > remember an old Scientific American article that looked at human
> > populations since the neolithic, and argued that when agriculture was
> > invented, human populations increased greatly, and that subsequent
> > population increases followed other technological inventions.  The
> world's
> > population is now growing much slower than it would without birth
> control.
> > If no birth control is practiced whatsoever, but there is enough food and
> > medical treatment to avoid the very high infant mortality that occurs
> > without sufficient food and medical care and public health measures,
> women
> > produce about 15-20 children in their life.  There are no societies on
> > earth I know of that do that (other than one or two small religious
> > groups).  The fact that human population growth has not greatly outraced
> > the pace of technological innovations that have increased food production
> > and so on, is largely due to birth control.  In some countries such as
> > Italy, China, and Japan, reproduction currently is below replacement, yet
> > mortality from starvation, vast epidemics, and war have been very low in
> > those countries for quite a while.  Low or negative population growth
> > without mortality is not possible without birth control.  Population
> growth
> > is like a giant oil tanker, it has such momentum that it takes a very
> long
> > time to slow and stop it.  In spite of the one-child family policy in
> China
> > introduced in 1979, their population is still growing, although much
> slower
> > than it would without it (Wikipedia says that it only applies to about
> 36%
> > of the population, but I doubt the rest of the population there is having
> > large families).
> >       All predictions are for human population to eventually reach a
> > maximum, and then begin to decline.  The only debate is about when.  It
> > will happen due to birth control more likely than due to starvation,
> > disease or war (hopefully).  It can be sped up by providing birth control
> > to those who want it but can't afford it.  There are hundreds of millions
> > if not billions in that situation.
> >      During development, many countries go through a phase of
> > industrialization in which pollution is rampant.  At one time "London
> fog"
> > from coal fires heating houses cause great mortality in London, thousands
> > died.  Now you can walk the streets of London in clear air.  I can
> remember
> > when it was reported that Tokyo had such bad air pollution that there
> were
> > oxygen vending machines on the sidewalk.  Now their air is clear, even
> > though the metropolitan area has about 24 million people, said to be the
> > world's largest city.  US cities used to be blackened with the smoke from
> > industry.  Pittsburgh where my uncle worked in a steel mill, was black,
> but
> > the steel mills are gone, the city has been cleaned up, it now shines and
> > is rated as one of the US's most livable cities.  China and also India
> > currently are in extremely rapid growth phases, and pollution in Beijing
> is
> > currently infamous.  But China knows very well about the problem, and is
> > currently the world's largest renewable energy equipment manufacturer.
> > They plan to reduce pollution as soon as they can, but they don't want to
> > slow growth.  US water and air pollution have been reduced, they aren't
> as
> > good as they should be, but they are much better than they were.  A river
> > in Cincinnati once caught fire!  The rise of a middle class means that
> > people begin to press their governments for less pollution so they can
> have
> > better lives.  I agree with Greg that the glass is half full as well as
> > half empty.
> >       I think these are lessons that most of our problems are very
> solvable
> > in the long term.  Our problem is that we are loosing reefs and other
> > ecosystems quickly, and no one can possibly stop population growth in
> time
> > to save reefs.  We need to be realistic about what is possible and what
> is
> > not.  There is NO chance that we can stop population growth, let alone
> > reduce population, in time to save reefs.  None.
> >      It is not just the number of people that threatens reefs, it's also
> > what those people do.  How much they consume, and how they act in many
> ways
> > which produce the threats to reefs, like overfishing, sediment runoff,
> > nutrient runoff, climate change, acidification, and so on.  All of those
> > can be reduced drastically without changing the population.  We can have
> a
> > much much smaller footprint on the environment than we presently have,
> and
> > still continue to have productive, enjoyable lives.
> >
> >      We need to get to work and get it done!!  Nobody said it was going
> to
> > be easy.  President Kennedy said, "We choose to go to the moon, not
> because
> > it is easy, but because it is difficult."  We need that same attitude.
> >       Cheers,  Doug
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 8:00 AM, Greg Challenger <
> > GChallenger at polarisappliedsciences.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I would disagree that past events have not affected carrying capacity.
> >> We've been doing things that affect carrying capacity for quite some
> >> time.
> >> The one-time inheritance that helps create carrying capacity and
> includes
> >> things like topsoil and biodiversity that Erlich discusses in 1968
> >> included
> >> buffalo, whales, prairie, wetlands and other things we have largely
> >> depleted long ago, did it not?   There are too many more examples to
> >> list.
> >>    Carrying capacity is largely influenced the availability of
> substitute
> >> resources and very much by the current technological regime to utilize
> >> those resources in more effective and sustainable ways.  Despite losses
> >> of
> >> one time inheritances, the carrying capacity has still gone up due in
> >> part
> >> to many technological advances.  Advanced nations have higher carrying
> >> capacities than poorer nations.  I'm not selling technology as the
> >> panacea,
> >> but we are all "technologists".....are we admitting we can't solve the
> >> problem and we just have wait for h
> >>  alf of us to go away?  I'm not there yet.  I have been working on some
> >> great coral and large-scale wetland restoration projects.  I have seen
> >> some
> >> locations with much promise and recovery despite declines elsewhere.  I
> >> also lament losses, but there are apparently unavoidable losses on large
> >> scales regardless of humans as Gene points out.  This is no reason of
> >> course to reverse our own damage to the best of our ability.  I still
> >> think
> >> the glass is half full.  The loss of half of the glass is bad, but I'm
> >> not
> >> down yet.
> >> Greg Challenger
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:
> >> coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of David M. Lawrence
> >> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:42 AM
> >> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Why we are failing to repair coral reefs
> >>
> >> Technology will never overcome the finite limits the biosphere can
> >> provide.  As more and more of us swarm the planet, we'll keep "fishing
> >> down
> >> the food chain" until it gets very, very ugly.
> >>
> >> All the past catastrophes Greg described did not threaten the carrying
> >> capacity of the planet.
> >>
> >> Actually, some of what Paul Ehrlich predicted has come to pass. There
> >> were
> >> a number of social factors (such as the greater empowerment of
> >> women) which, coupled with some technological factors (such as more
> >> widespread birth control), that have given us some breathing room as to
> >> when the more dire aspects of the future he envisioned will arrive.
> >>
> >> That does not mean the more dire effects of the future he envisioned
> will
> >> not arrive.  As I know from personal experience, when we say "It's not
> >> that
> >> bad," we are often omitting the final word, which is "yet."
> >>
> >> I also know that the "yets" can and do arrive.
> >>
> >> So maybe it's not that bad ... yet.
> >>
> >> Ehrlich's "Population Bomb" works like most other warnings.  If you see
> >> the railroad crossing signal and stop before the train arrives -- thus
> >> avoiding the collision -- it would be a mistake to conclude something
> was
> >> wrong with the warning itself.
> >>
> >> Dave
> >>
> >> On 10/22/2014 6:15 PM, Greg Challenger wrote:
> >> > Energy units and land requirements to support an individual are
> dynamic
> >> and have changed a lot over time with advancements.....no?   I know a
> >> well
> >> known ecologist who calculated the earth population explosion back in 68
> >> as
> >> well.    None of it has yet come to pass.....because advancements
> >> intervened.  I hear what Francesca is saying....and I too am an
> optimist.
> >> >
> >> > Ps. When the world had 3,5 billion people it was the 60s I think.  Id
> >> say we most certainly did have environmental catastrophes then. Go back
> >> even farther....Hanford.... Love canal,  bikini atoll.....WWII.  If you
> >> think the Iraq war or the BP spill were big, they don't hold a candle to
> >> WWII.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks for the provocative discussion
> >> >
> >> > Greg Challenger
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Sent from my iPhone
> >> >
> >> >> On Oct 21, 2014, at 10:50 PM, "Szmant, Alina" <szmanta at uncw.edu>
> >> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> The figure of how many humans (3 to 4 Billion) the Earth can support
> >> with a reasonable standard of living (at most 1/2 of the US standard),
> >> and
> >> still have some nature left around us,  is not mine.  It has been
> >> calculated by a number of well-known ecologists based on energy units,
> >> how
> >> much land it takes to support a person's needs (while still leaving land
> >> for wildlife), and other ways.  Richard Leakey quoted that number to me
> a
> >> few years back when I asked him the question.  I have seen it explained
> >> in
> >> a number of publications (check out that book I recommended awhile back
> >> "Life on the Brink").  Yes more people can live on Earth (and currently
> >> do)
> >> but at the expense of the environment (including climate change and
> coral
> >> reefs).
> >> >>
> >> >> http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/3_times_sustainable
> >> >>
> >> >> You can make fun of it all you want but back when we only had 3.5 B
> >> people on Earth, there weren't the kinds of environmental disasters as
> we
> >> have now.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds
> >> >> discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt
> >> >>
> >> >> "The time is always right to do what is right"  Martin Luther King
> >> >>
> >> >> *********************************************************************
> >> >> ****
> >> >> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> >> >> Professor of Marine Biology
> >> >> AAUS Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Awardee Center for Marine
> >> >> Science University of North Carolina Wilmington
> >> >> 5600 Marvin Moss Ln
> >> >> Wilmington NC 28409 USA
> >> >> tel:  910-962-2362  fax: 910-962-2410  cell: 910-200-3913
> >> >> http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> >> >> *******************************************************
> >> >>
> >> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> >> From: Greg Challenger [mailto:GChallenger at polarisappliedsciences.com
> ]
> >> >> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2014 7:56 PM
> >> >> To: Szmant, Alina; Peter Sale; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> Subject: RE: [Coral-List] Why we are failing to repair coral reefs
> >> >>
> >> >> Did you just say we have to get rid of half the world's people?
> Which
> >> of the quotes in your email does that idea capture?  Perhaps this
> >> one.....
> >> >>
> >> >>     "The time is always right to do what is right"  Martin Luther
> >> >> King
> >> >>
> >> >> I know you weren't serious but it is one possible solution to making
> >> the environment more healthy, just not one in which at least half of us
> >> can
> >> agree.
> >> >>
> >> >> As the great ecologist George Carlin said......"Save the Earth?  The
> >> Earth will be fine....we are screwed".
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> Greg Challenger
> >> >>
> >> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> >> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Szmant,
> >> >> Alina
> >> >> Sent: Monday, October 20, 2014 3:19 PM
> >> >> To: Peter Sale; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Why we are failing to repair coral reefs
> >> >>
> >> >> Hello Peter:
> >> >>
> >> >> I read your essay in Reef Encounters.  All I will add is that if all
> >> >> we
> >> (whoever we is) are focused on is saving coral reefs, we are doomed to
> >> failure..  Coral reefs are just one of many ecosystems on Planet Earth
> >> that
> >> are in distress and being wiped out systematically due to the human
> >> cancer:  forests (rain and temperate, and all other kinds), wetlands,
> >> tundra, coastal plains, estuaries, and on and on.  We can't hope to save
> >> one without saving them all, and to do that in the long term, we have to
> >> somehow reduce human numbers to half of those inhabiting Earth today.
> It
> >> may be too late already, but the longer we wait to even recognize the
> >> root
> >> of the problem and get moving to do something about it, the less likely
> >> that this will happen in time to save the organisms and ecosystems we
> >> know
> >> and value.
> >> >>
> >> >> Alina
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds
> >> >> discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt
> >> >>
> >> >> "The time is always right to do what is right"  Martin Luther King
> >> >>
> >> >> *********************************************************************
> >> >> ****
> >> >> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> >> >> Professor of Marine Biology
> >> >> AAUS Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Awardee Center for Marine
> >> >> Science University of North Carolina Wilmington
> >> >> 5600 Marvin Moss Ln
> >> >> Wilmington NC 28409 USA
> >> >> tel:  910-962-2362  fax: 910-962-2410  cell: 910-200-3913
> >> >> http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> >> >> *******************************************************
> >> >>
> >> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> >> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Peter
> >> >> Sale
> >> >> Sent: Monday, October 20, 2014 1:03 PM
> >> >> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> Subject: [Coral-List] Why we are failing to repair coral reefs
> >> >>
> >> >> Hi,
> >> >> I recently penned a comment on why we are, for the most part, failing
> >> in our efforts to repair and sustain coral reefs, despite the efforts of
> >> many dedicated and hard-working people.  It appeared in Reef Encounter,
> >> the
> >> on-line news journal of ISRS, and many readers of this list will have
> >> seen
> >> it already.  Thinking it might be worth wider dissemination, I've now
> put
> >> it up on my blog, with some pretty pictures attached.  You can access
> the
> >> blog at www.petersalebooks.com/?p=1708  and you can see the original in
> >> Reef Encounter which can be downloaded from the ISRS website at
> >> http://coralreefs..org/  Reef Encounter has lots of interesting content
> >> (perhaps even more interesting than my comment)!
> >> >>
> >> >> If you are a member of ISRS, you could also think of nominating
> >> >> someone
> >> to the ISRS Council, and if you are not a member, think about joining
> >> this
> >> international coral reef science community.
> >> >>
> >> >> Peter Sale
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> sale at uwindsor.ca                 @PeterSale3
> >> >> www.uwindsor.ca/sale           www.petersalebooks.com
> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Coral-List mailing list
> >> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >>
> >> --
> >> ------------------------------------------------------
> >>   David M. Lawrence        | Home:  (804) 559-9786
> >>   6467 Hanna Drive         | Cell:  (804) 305-5234
> >>   Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: dave at fuzzo.com
> >>   USA                      | http:  http://fuzzo.com
> >> ------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> "All drains lead to the ocean."  -- Gill, Finding Nemo
> >>
> >> "We have met the enemy and he is us."  -- Pogo
> >>
> >> "No trespassing
> >>   4/17 of a haiku"  --  Richard Brautigan
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Douglas Fenner
> > Contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc.
> > PO Box 7390
> > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
> >
> > phone 1 684 622-7084
> >
> > "belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."
> >
> > belief in evolution is optional, use of antibiotics that bacteria have
> not
> > evolved resistance to is recommended.
> >
> > website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
> >
> > blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
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