[Coral-List] Discussion on the compensation for coral reef damage in Egypt

Thu Jul 21 10:38:19 EDT 2016

Dear all,

It would be better to include the change in fisheries productivity in
the formula. CPEU, Number of fishermen, boats and gears, frequency and
intensity of their activity per year should be also considered.
Galvis, N.H., 1999. Valoración Económica de los arrecifes coralinos en
Colombia. Revista GEOTRÓPICA. Área Recursos Naturales, Universidad
Jorge Tadeo Lozano ISSN: 0122-8579

I published that paper after completing my studies in Enviornmental
Economics and Policiy Analysis at the Harvard University with a
multidisciplianry background focus in coral reef conservation.  It is
risky to put a low price to a coral reef square meter, developers may
understand that is allow to destroy them. The current trend of
mitigation projects that fund governments and some NGOs are
encouraging development projects that pay to kill corals giving few
dollars to few researchers to do green washing. The international
coral reef scientific community should start working to develop a code
of conduct to avoid that the last resilient coral reefs disappear with
local permits and the consent of few researchers that think that is ok
to allow destruction of resilient coral reefs to benefit unsustainable
developing projects without looking for alternatives. Considering the
total economic value may prevent future damages to coral reefs. For
some economists, Constanza et al (1997) is overrated. Nevertheless,
more conservationists would agree with Spurgeon (2001) who considered
a realistic value and in previous papers cited as relevant:
"Integration of stakeholder involvement, socioeconomic aspects,
alternative livelihoods and poverty alleviation will become more
common in developing approaches to environmental valuation, especially
in the developing world. Non-use values will play an increasingly
important role, as will methods to appropriate such values. Benefit
transfers will be commonly used to help facilitate the spread of
environmental valuation
within decision-making. Environmental values will become one of
several key indicators used to help protect and manage coral
resources".

In the Observatory Pro Coral Reefs, We agree with the words of Dr.
Richmond (Organizers of the ICRS 2016) "It is better to prevent than
to cure".

In Colombia, we are requesting the Colombian Government to reconsider
dredging close to a resilient coral reef that we have estimated at
least an environmental costs of US$81 million dollars and guide them
to evaluate and choose from other alternatives that may have lower
environmental costs. Please join our petition by adding your name
email and country in the following link:

https://secure.avaaz.org/es/petition/Gobierno_Colombia_Presidente_Juan_Manuel_Santos_Salve_y_Proteja_CoralesBahiaCartagena_Varadero_Colombia_ArrecifesCoral/?aoNYTkb

Cordial saludo,

Nohora Galvis

Directora Observatorio Pro Arrecifes
Fundación ICRI Colombia
Coordinadora Red Nacional de Observadores Voluntarios del Arrecife (RENOVO)

Facebook.com/ICRI.COLOMBIA

Twitter @ArrecifesCoral e @ICRIcolombia

2016-07-19 1:21 GMT-05:00, Mahmoud Sarhan <mahmoud.srhan at gmail.com>:
> Dear Coral Listers
>
> I would like to open a discussion again on the compensation and economic
> valuation for coral reef damage. In the incidents of ship grounding on
> coral reefs and other similar accidents, park rangers are always challenged
> by calculating the appropriate compensation. In most cases, coral reef
> ecosystem services are not accounted for during the compensation
> calculations. A good economic valuation for coral reef damage is a lengthy
> and expensive process. It requires expertise that might not be available in
> many MPAs.
>
> In Egypt, a formula was developed in 1992 to be used for all coral ref
> damage assessment incidents. The purpose of having such formula was to
> provide a unified and user-friendly compensation system that can be applied
> for all cases. The formula is *A x LC x D x RP x V*
> Where:
> A = Impacted area (m2)
> LC = % of living coral
> D=% damaged
> RP=number of years needed for recovery
> V= Value of 1 m2 of the reef ($300 based on recreational/tourism benefits
> only)
>
> I am currently working with the Environmental Economist Dr Rady Tawfik and
> other team members to help National Parks of Egypt to develop a
> compensation
> system for coral reef damage/injuries . During the stakeholders
> consultation processes, we noticed that there is a preference to have a
> straight forward damage assessment procedures. This is to facilitate the
> economic valuation processes for park rangers who do not possess the
> technical expertise/skills in economic valuation. We are currently
> considering re-assessing and improving the current formula and developing a
> standard procedures that capture the ecosystem services (direct and
> indirect) where possible. We might be ending of developing the formula and
> adding up more sections in the assessment to include components such as
> cost of the damage assessment process and the value of other social and
> ecological (direct and indirect) ecosystem services.
>
> I look forward to get your takes on this issue. What are your thoughts on
> using/developing this formula and improving the compensation system.
> What concerns or suggestions you might have that could be useful for the
> Egyptian case.
>
> Your contributions are highly appreciated.
>
> Mahmoud Sarhan *MSc, MPS*
>
> Research Associate
>
> Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise
>
> Cornell University
>
> https://sites.google.com/site/mahmoudsarhanweb/
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