Among the masses of marine flora and fauna in the system are six of the world’s seven sea turtle species. Sea turtles are among the marine creatures most endangered due to human activity. The destruction of their breeding grounds and their vulnerability to ocean pollution has helped make sea turtles a high-profile symbol for waste reduction and conservation.
Spread over six million square kilometres of ocean around southeast Asia and the western Pacific, the Coral Triangle is one the planet’s most important coral reef regions: it harbours over 500 species of hard coral, 3000 species of fish and the world’s largest mangrove area. These resources supply food and support the livelihoods of an estimated 500 million people and are of immense importance to the social and economic stability of the Asia-Pacific region. (via Phys.Org)
A multitude of global and local threats
Pollution, mismanagement, coastal development, overfishing and warming temperatures are threatening the very survival of this Southeast Asian “nursery of the seas”.
According to the WWF’s Living Blue Planet Report, all of the Earth’s oceanic environments are in trouble. The populations of marine species have declined by half since 1970. Coral reef cover, in particular, has declined by half just during the past 30 years — and could disappear completely by 2015.
The disappearance of coral reefs is not simply an issue of conservation for its own sake. Globally, an estimated 850 million people depend on reefs for their survival and livelihood. In no place is this truer than in the Coral Triangle, which supports some 100 million people.
It is also the most vulnerable major reef system, with 85 percent classified as threatened, compared to a global average of 60 percent.
All fished out?
Exports from the Coral Triangle total some $5 billion US each year, including 30 percent of the global tuna catch, plus a further $1 billion in live reef fish. Unregulated overfishing and destructive practices, such as the use of cyanide to capture fish, compound already unsustainably high catch numbers.
From the Guardian:
A report by Greenpeace published on Monday called out 13 Indonesian and eight Philippines tuna canneries, which it says are failing in three key areas – supply chain traceability, sustainability and employee equity. All but one of the businesses surveyed were graded ‘poor’ and none were classified as ‘good.’ Most of these canneries supply brands in the EU, America, Japan and the Middle East.
While it might be in the short-term interest for some countries to continue allowing unsustainable fishing practices, in the medium and long term it is plainly catastrophic. Therefore, the countries of the region are joining forces with NGOs and the Asian Development Bank to better manage the region, encouraging a shift towards more sustainable sources of income like nature tourism. This cooperation has been termed the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries & Food Security (CTI-CFF).
Bleached stag coral, Malaysia. Coral bleaching could be the greatest threat facing the world’s reefs. Pic: Gavin Bain (Flickr CC)
Unfortunately, the hurdles faced by the CTI-CFF are quite high. The challenges of cross-country cooperation and varying goals of the six different Coral Triangle countries place unique challenges for conservation.
Climate woes
Another challenge is mitigating climate change, which according to the IPCC, is happening too little too late to save reefs from coral bleaching. Furthermore, a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change highlights the Coral Triangle as a hotspot for complete species extinction.
In brief, if things continue as they are, there won’t be much worth seeing for future nature tourists in the Coral Triangle.
Source: Asian Correspondent | 02 October 2015
