[Coral-List] Saving reefs....without elephants [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

Ashley Frisch Ashley.Frisch at gbrmpa.gov.au
Wed Apr 25 20:51:30 EDT 2018


Dear Coral List,
I liked reading J. Hill's constructive and concise post about threats to coral reefs and potential solutions to the problems, such as "use less energy, fly less, and eat less meat".  In my opinion, the single BIGGEST thing we can do to help the plight of coral reefs (and nature, climate and society in general) is to have fewer children, and encourage others to do the same.  As a whole, we struggle for 5% reductions in consumption per capita. Meanwhile, global population increases by 10% every decade, which ensures any wins are overwhelmed by losses. I often wonder how much better our coral reefs would be now if 20 years ago we abandoned science, conservation and management and spent all that money on contraception and empowering people (particularly women) to family plan.  Few people are willing to discuss over-population because the issue has links to religion, but the sooner the issue becomes mainstream, the sooner we can address the common denominator of global environmental degradation.

For an excellent discussion of the issue, see Camilo Mora's article in Ecology and Society (Revisiting the Environmental and Socioeconomic Effects of Population Growth: a Fundamental but Fading Issue in Modern Scientific, Public, and Political Circles) which is feely available online.

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0ahUKEwiDqI-U1tbaAhWIS7wKHX1kA3AQFghaMAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww..ecologyandsociety.org%2Fvol19%2Fiss1%2Fart38%2FES-2013-6320.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3Dq9AHMjMny9cXhynrHuMw

Thanks,
Ashley

Dr Ashley Frisch
Research and Water Quality Coordinator
Reef HQ / Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

ashley.frisch at gbrmpa.gov.au<mailto:ashley.frisch at gbrmpa.gov.au>
Tel: +617 4750 0898

PO Box 1379
Townsville Qld 4810
Australia


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