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Coral reef protection

General Interests

There are three main categories of interest the public should have for the preservation of coral reefs: the preservation of natural beauty and value, the promotion of the local economy, and long-term scientific goals.

Over one-third of marine species call coral reefs their home. This creates a beautiful underwater experience for snorkelers and divers (Done). This great genetic biodiversity has a lot of potential for industries like pharmaceutics, biochemistry, and cosmetics. This biodiversity also boosts the economy through an increase in marine tourism and commercial fisheries. Long-term, coral reefs have been recognized as large contributors to the absorption of carbon dioxide emissions which has been an important part of the mitigation of climate change. (Caillaud).

Difficulties in Protection (under Restoration)

It is difficult to create a substantial plan for the protection of coral reefs due to multiple factors. Because coral reefs are out in open water, there is no distinct ownership over certain parts of the ocean, which creates difficulty in delegating responsibility (Lowe).

Overfishing (under Stressors)

The vast biodiversity of coral reefs consequently create an abundant fishing area for locals. This leads to overfishing of reef herbivore organisms which makes the coral reefs more vulnerable and unable to recover from large environmental disturbances (Rasher). Unfortunately, most marine ecologists expect future oceans to be more overfished than now (Lowe).