CONSERVATION CONCLUSION

The greatest challenge of reef conservation is one that no international regime on its own can fully address, given that so many of these threats are local in nature and thus require local solutions and enforcement. However on the other hand, an international solution to coral reef conservation is absolutely vital, given that two of the biggest threats facing reefs—climate change and ocean acidification—are global in nature and cannot be “fixed” by any one nation alone.

Reef protection needs to be treated on a larger scale as part of who ecosystem or area rather than protecting individual threatened species.  Having researched and analysed the possible solutions I believe No Take Areas (NTAs) are the best solution for coral conservation. NTAs, when properly supported and policed, are effective in preserving fish stocks because they change human behaviour.  Any conservation project must not solely address the biodiversity aspect they must to accommodate people livelihoods and economic value of the ecosystem.  BUT NTA’s do not prevent or hold back warm water, or stop bleaching.

NTAs do not provide a refuge from bleaching, but they can help protect coral reefs from climate change. Overfishing, particularly of herbivorous parrotfish and surgeonfish, affects more than just the size of harvestable stocks it alters the entire dynamics of a reef. Reduced herbivory from overfishing, increased levels of disease, and excess nutrients can impair the resilience of corals and prevent their recovery following acute disturbance events like cyclones or bleaching, leading instead to a phase shift to algal dominated reefs. Resilience is also eroded by chronic human impacts that cause persistently elevated rates of mortality and reduced recruitment of larvae. Although climate change is by definition a global issue, local conservation efforts can greatly help in maintaining and enhancing resilience and in limiting the longer term damage from bleaching and related human impacts. Managing coral reef resilience through a network of NTAs, integrated with management of surrounding areas, is clearly essential to any workable solution. This requires a strong focus on reducing pollution, protecting food webs, and managing key functional groups as insurance for sustainability. NTAs also act to spread risk, whereby areas that escape damage can act as sources of larvae to aid recovery of nearby affected areas. This highly desirable property of NTAs raises the issue of how close they need to be to promote connectivity the migration of larvae and/or adults between them. Critically, coral reef organisms, including different species of corals, vary greatly in their larval biology and potential for dispersal. The clear implication is that NTAs must be substantially more numerous and closer together than they are currently to protect species with limited dispersal capabilities.