New protection for coral reefs

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Monday announced the launch of a major initiative to boost the fortunes of East Africa’s coral reefs and their globally important wildlife. In a statement issued in Nairobi, UNEP said several reefs in the region - in Kenya, the Seychelles and Madagascar - had been chosen for development into “centres of excellence” for reef management. Over the next four years, the initiative plans to transform these reefs into “beacons of good practice” for managing and protecting reefs for the benefit of local people, wildlife and tourists, UNEP said. The reefs are facing threats from coastal development and marine-based activities along the region’s 11,000 km of coast, which is home to some 35 million people. The East Africa effort is part of a global project called the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), which on Monday announced that it had secured $10 million from the UN Foundation - through the UN Fund for International Partnerships - to carry out the vital work. [The UN Foundation was established to administer the $1 billion pledge made in 1997 by American businessman Ted Turner in support of UN activities.] “There has been growing scientific evidence over recent years that the globe’s coral reefs are in serious decline,” said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. “There are many threats facing these vital habitats for fish, important sources of tourist revenue and natural sea defences for many low-lying islands.” The International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) will support “flagship” coral reef management demonstration sites in four regional seas: the wider Caribbean, East Africa, East Asia and the South Pacific, according to the UN Foundation. These sites will become blueprints for managing threatened coral reefs worldwide, protecting them from over-fishing, pollution, oil spills and growing coastal populations. Under the initiative, a minimum of three reef projects will be selected in East Africa (and the other three regional sites) as demonstration sites or “centers of excellence” that will highlight some of the best available examples to reverse the decline of coral reefs. The demonstration sites may include Malindi and Watamu Marine Parks and National Reserve in Kenya. In addition, “target communities” are being identified to benefit from the information learned at the demonstration sites, and in turn, educate other local communities to replicate these successes. These will include Dar es Salaam Marine Reserves System in Tanzania. “Communication with the wider public will be a major priority for ICRAN,” a key activity of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), said its spokesman, Robert Jara. “It is only through widespread public awareness and grassroots support for coral reef conservation, especially at the local and village level in developing countries, that the current over-use and degradation of coral reefs can be reversed.” “The time for talking is over and the time to act is now. We need a response on a regional and a global scale,” said UNEP director Klaus Toepfer. “The ICRAN project, with generous funding from the UN Foundation, offers practical solutions and real hope of stemming the tide in favour of these beautiful and economically important marine areas.”