According to a new report based on a workshop held in Panama, average live coral cover on Caribbean reefs has declined to 8% of the reef today, compared with more than 50% in the 1970s.
However, many reefs in the Netherlands Antilles and Cayman Islands have 30% or more live coral cover.
7 September 2012: A new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report highlights that average live coral cover on Caribbean reefs has declined to just 8% of the reef today, compared with more than 50% in the 1970s. The report stems from a workshop held by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama, from 29 April-5 May 2012.
According to the report, rates of decline on most reefs show no signs of slowing. However, many reefs in the Netherlands Antilles and Cayman Islands have 30% or more live coral cover. The causes of these regional differences in reef conditions are not well understood, beyond the role of human exploitation and disturbance.
Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director, IUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme, notes that the major causes of coral decline include overfishing, pollution, disease, and bleaching caused by rising temperatures resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.
IUCN has recommended local action to improve the health of corals, including limits on fishing through catch quotas, an extension of marine protected areas (MPAs), a halt to nutrient runoff from land, and a reduction on the global reliance on fossil fuels. [IUCN Press Release] [Publication: Tropical Americas Coral Reef Resilience Workshop: Executive Summary]