Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs
Author: Marea Eleni Hatziolos
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 240
Release: 1998
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780821342350

"The decline of coral ... if it continues ... will mark the end of one of the great beauties of creation and the end of a great hope that of discovering life forms hitherto unknown on the Earth ... Let us not forget that we are responsible to posterity for the preservation of the beauties of the sea as well as for those on land. We must learn how to make use of the biological and mineral resources of the oceans ... But we must also learn how to preserve the integrity and the equilibrium of that world which is so inextricably bound to our own." - Jacques Yves Cousteau, Excerpt from Life and Death in a Coral Sea, 1971 This book reports on the World Bank's 5th Annual Conference on Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, which focused on some of the most urgent threats facing coral reefs today, including the growing use of cyanide fishing along some of the richest reefs of the world, unsustainable trade in reef products, and constraints to effective establishment and management of marine protected areas. The proceedings stressed the need for strengthening the policy environment while adopting economic incentives and improved resource valuation techniques, informing management decisions through targeted research and monitoring, and rallying public support through environmental education and the media.

Summary Report

Summary Report
Author: Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 24
Release: 2013
Genre: Coral reefs and islands
ISBN:

"Coral reefs are among the most valuable ecosystems on Earth, they provide humans with billions of dollars in economic and environmental services (also known as ecosystem services) such as food, protection for coasts, and tourism. However, increasing population growth rates along with economic and industrial development has resulted in unprecedented pressure to coral reefs. These pressures include impacts from climate change, unsustainable fishing, and land-based pollution. Domestically, the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) funds and equips reef conservation activities by NOAA and its partners in the seven US states and jurisdictions containing coral reefs (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawai`i, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands), as well as in uninhabited islands including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Remote Island Areas. Given some of the threats mentioned above, there are a few questions to consider. How much are coral reefs worth to society? How much do people care about coral ecosystems? Can we demonstrate the value of these unique ecosystems and account for what we stand to lose if they are irreparably damaged? Providing answers to these questions can assist with better decisions that influence coral reef resource management and policy. One way to provide answers is through the use of Economic Valuation techniques. The CRCP recognizes the benefits gained from the strategic use of social science tools in US coral reef jurisdictions and one of these tools includes Natural Resource Valuation. Since 2001, the program has funded social science activities including, valuation studies in seven (7) US coral reef jurisdictions. This document attempts to summarize the major findings of these studies in order to provide an overall report on the value of US coral reefs.

YOUMARES 9 - the Oceans: Our Research, Our Future

YOUMARES 9 - the Oceans: Our Research, Our Future
Author: Simon Jungblut
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Aquatic biology
ISBN: 3030203891

This open access book summarizes peer-reviewed articles and the abstracts of oral and poster presentations given during the YOUMARES 9 conference which took place in Oldenburg, Germany, in September 2018. The aims of this book are to summarize state-of-the-art knowledge in marine sciences and to inspire scientists of all career stages in the development of further research. These conferences are organized by and for young marine researchers. Qualified early-career researchers, who moderated topical sessions during the conference, contributed literature reviews on specific topics within their research field. .

Collected Essays on the Economics of Coral Reefs

Collected Essays on the Economics of Coral Reefs
Author: Herman S. J. Cesar
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2000
Genre: Coral reefs and islands
ISBN:

Corals and coral reefs are seriously degraded in most tropical seas. Most of the damage is due to over-exploitation and the use of destructive fishing methods. This collection of essays presents a number of case studies on the economic analysis of coral reefs.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management of Coral Reefs

Integrated Coastal Zone Management of Coral Reefs
Author: Kent Gustavson
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2000
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780821346280

"The applied research indicates that, to improve awareness, park education programs should be targeted specifically to the user groups primarily through outreach programs. Further, the Park's management programs should be highlighted, particularly the beneficial, tangible products and services (benefits) the Park provides to each user group... The closer the tie between reef conditions and business earnings, the greater the users' support for reef conservation." Coral reefs are sometimes referred to as "canaries of the sea" because of their early warning ability to show near-shore oceanic stress. Because of their biological diversity, they are also called "rainforests of the sea." Coral reefs are vital to the well being of millions of people. Coral reef managers and government officials trying to save their valuable national resources have turned to research on coral reefs for help. The research presented in this publication merits a great deal of notice because the output is useful for decision support and training tools in integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). The work on cost-effectiveness analysis has developed integrated economic and ecological models, relying extensively on fuzzy logic procedures to model impacts and effects of interventions within the reef environment. By contrast, the marine system valuation work provides economic valuations of coral reefs, demonstrating the use of different modeling methods and treating key policy issues within this context. This publication will interest coastal zone experts and managers worldwide

Economic Valuation of the Ecosystem Services of the Mesoamerican Reef, and the Allocation and Distribution of These Values

Economic Valuation of the Ecosystem Services of the Mesoamerican Reef, and the Allocation and Distribution of These Values
Author: Itziar Ruiz de Gauna
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021
Genre:
ISBN:

Coral reefs are one of the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth. The Mesoamerican Reef contains the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. However, its health is threatened, so there is a need for a management and sustainable conservation. Key to this is knowing the economic value of the ecosystem. “Mainstreaming the value of natural capital into policy decision-making is vital” The value of environmental and natural resources reflects what society is willing to pay for a good or service or to conserve natural resources. Conventional economic approaches tended to view value only in terms of the willingness to pay for raw materials and physical products generated for human production and consumption (e.g. fish, mining materials, pharmaceutical products, etc.). As recognition of the potential negative impacts of human activity on the environment became more widespread, economists began to understand that people might also be willing to pay for other reasons beyond the own current use of the service (e.g. to protect coral reefs from degradation or to know that coral reefs will remain intact in the future). As a result of this debate, Total Economic Value (TEV) became the most widely used and commonly accepted framework for classifying economic benefits of ecosystems and for trying to integrate them into decision-making. This report estimates the economic value of the following goods and services provided by the MAR's coral reefs: USE VALUES Tourism & Recreation, Fisheries, Shoreline protection NON-USE VALUES To our knowledge, the inclusion of non-use values in the economic valuation of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is novel, which makes the study more comprehensive.