NADI, Fiji (April 27, 2008) - Coral reefs, so often associated with the world's most desirable travel destinations, are also key to food security and the economic well-being of developing countries, asserts a marine scientist who dedicates his life to regenerating coral.
Dr. Austin Bowden-Kerby, senior scientist for Counterpart
International, said pollution, climate change and over-fishing by
locals and tourists have caused widespread degradation of the coral
reefs, one of the world's richest sources of biodiversity, all of which
is well known. But the much-awarded scientist who launched
Counterpart's Coral Gardens - Living Reefs initiative said what is less
known is the effect of dying coral on the health and livelihoods of
coastal communities.
Featured on the BBC TV documentary, "The Coral Gardener" which started
airing this month, Bowden-Kerby highlights the vital connections
between Coral Gardens, biodiversity conservation, food security and
wealth creation.
Tourists flock to places like the Pacific and the Caribbean to witness
the multitude of exotic sea life that resides in these underwater
habitats, and Bowden-Kerby reminds us "between 20 to 30 percent of all
species of the planet are found on the coral reef. They represent a
treasure house of medicines for biodiversity."
For more than 30 years, Bowden-Kerby has studied coral reefs and their
effects on local habitats and economies. He adds that in addition to
providing quality snorkeling and fishing, popular activities for resort
guests, corals are the beach makers. "A typical reef produces between
one and three tons of sand per mile, per day, if it's healthy."
However, he cautions, "If the reefs die in a particular region and the
beaches start to erode, it can undermine the entire tourism industry."
Beyond the health of the tourism industry, Bowden-Kerby points to other
forms of life dependent on healthy reefs: "Corals build the reef and
provide homes for these fish. (Likewise,) fish are essential for the
health of corals because they clean the seaweeds and dust off the
corals with their tails - communities rely on those fish and lobsters
and conch and clams, that's their food source and that's their income.
They sell those things. When coral reefs are healthy and full of these
organisms, people and communities are healthy." He adds, "the people
here, they don't grow vegetables. It's not traditional. Their vitamins
come from fish eyes and fish liver."
Though coral degradation can seem an insurmountable problem,
Bowden-Kerby, by combining his scientific training with listening to
local community elders, has adapted indigenous knowledge to develop
simple restoration methods which simultaneously benefit the tourism
industry and the local fishermen.
Living in Fiji during the 1970s, Bowden-Kerby discovered after a storm
that corals will sometimes tumble in and plant themselves on these
shifting rubble beds and would start growing. This discovery led him to
experiment with replicating these rubble beds by "planting" bits of
coral onto stones and then fastening them to underwater metal grids.
With regular maintenance and a little patience, Bowden-Kerby found that
corals eventually grow large enough to be transplanted back to the sea
floor. "And so, it was a very slow process and I took corals and I
threw them down and they grew and became an instant reef."
Through his research and implementation of the Coral Gardens - Living
Reefs Initiative, Bowden-Kerby has empowered communities to
successfully replenish degraded reefs in the South Pacific and the
Caribbean. "The secret is to set aside 25 percent of the reef and let
that be the nursery for all the species of fish, lobster and so forth."
Designating one fourth of the reef to regenerate coral "will produce up
to 10 times the resources typically of an unmanaged reef system."
The effects of the program have been profound according to the
scientist dubbed "Johnny Coral Seed" for his seeding of coral reefs in
the Pacific and Caribbean islands. And, healthy reefs mean more fish
for all: "There are fishermen now in Mexico who are getting over a ton
of lobster a season and that's enough to pick them out of poverty and
put them into the middle class where they have good houses. With their
nice boats now, they are taking tourists out and the tourists are
paying them even more money and they're doing fly fishing and
snorkeling - they're getting involved directly in the tourism industry,
where before, their boats were so un-seaworthy, they were actually just
a public health hazard."
Bowden-Kerby stresses the importance of involving the locals as well as
visitors in the restoration efforts because he recognizes "increased
levels of involvement within the marine environment brings greater
satisfaction to the guests - and increased business for resorts."
Thus, Bowden-Kerby has been working to partner local fishermen with
resorts to designate newly formed coral nurseries that double as
non-destructive marine parks for hotels. He explains how guests feel a
stronger sense of connection to the reef when they assist in the coral
restoration and are more likely to become repeat visitors and pass
along their positive experience to others.
In helping people generate these emotional connections, Bowden-Kerby
believes by helping to restore balance to the reef, hope will be given
to those suffering under this danger in paradise.
For more than 42 years, Counterpart International has given people a
voice in their own future through smart partnerships, offering options
and access to tools for sustained social, economic and environmental
development.
|
