Corals reefs began their development 50 million years ago.  They are one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth and cover less than one percent of the ocean floor (National Geographic).  Unfortunately, the human impact on the planet is causing these magnificent ecosystems to become bleached.  A coral can become bleached when it is stressed due to rising water temperature or pollution, two issues humans play a key role in.  These stressors cause the zooxanthellae, a type of algae that lives inside the coral and provides it with the vibrant hues that corals are known for, to excrete a toxin, causing the coral to expel them. Once the corals expel the zooxanthellae, the coral will turn white and die, hence the term bleached.  Already, 58-70% of corals worldwide are threatened by human activities with 80% of the corals in the Caribbean dying over the last 30 years (Downs).  Coral reefs all over the world are in danger due to global warming and inadequate protection from the government.  The research I have found concludes that there are a number of ways to improve upon these ineffective policies, such as incorporating new research techniques, protecting areas that need it most, using preservation methods that worked in other areas of the world, and shifting the focus to preventing and reversing global warming.  

My favorite memory is the first time I went scuba diving on a reef.  It was in St. Croix over the summer, and it was unlike anything I could have imagined.  I was in complete awe of the beauty that surrounded me.  I saw a sea turtle lazily swimming over the reef and an octopus curled up and hidden away in a crevice, trying to get some sleep. What looked like a field of grass swaying in the current turned out to be small green eels that quickly ducked back into their burrow when you swam over them.  A shark swimming off in the distance.  I also saw bleached coral, a stark white against the bright colors of the reef.  Sea fans with ragged holes where a careless diver had kicked them, leaving them vulnerable to disease, and lionfish, an invasive species that harm the fragile ecosystem people carelessly released them in. The feeling you get while slowly swimming through schools of fish while brightly colored coral waves gently in the water below is truly indescribable.  I cannot imagine a world without that magical place, but the harsh reality is that we may soon find ourselves in that world. The fact that these ecosystems may not be around for the next generation to see is discouraging, but with proper policies in place, we can prevent this from happening. 

A popular method used to protect coral reefs is to implement a marine protected area (MPA).  The official definition of a MPA as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is: “...any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein.”  This definition shows not all MPA are created equal.  They are classified using the five requirements provided by the National Marine Protected Areas Center:  conservation focus, level of protection, permanence, constancy of protection, and scale (Wenzel and Di’lorio).  With such a wide range of areas being called MPA the ones that protect coral reefs need to be on the stronger end of the spectrum and all of them need the same level of protection so no coral gets preferential treatment due to its location.  The MPAs need to be a natural heritage conservation focus which focuses on preserving biodiversity.  For the level of protection, the coral reef MPAs need to be a no impact zone.   Having a no impact MPA will still allow humans to visit but not participate in any harmful practices such as fishing, mining, or taking anything found on the reef.  Ideally humans would have no interaction with the reef, but coral reefs are an essential source of tourism and many coastal economies depend on them to survive.  For the permanence of protection, it will need to be a permanent MPA.  If the protection is lessened after a point, the reef will lose any progress the MPA allowed it. Consistency of protection will need to be year round.  Corals are mainly found in tropical climates which allows people to visit them all year.  Lastly, for the scale of protection, it should include the whole ecosystem of the coral reef, not just a section of the reef.  Implementing these guidelines into the current MPA will make them more efficient and have an improved impact on the coral.

Another problem with the current MPAs is that they are failing to protect the coral reefs that need the protection the most.  For example, the reefs that are already isolated from human interaction due to their remote location are more than twice as likely to be protected than a reef closer to humanity (Zielinski).  These isolated reefs do not need to be a MPA as much as the ones easily accessible to people.  Human interaction harms the reef through fishing, accidental or intentional contact with the reef, and pollution from the runoff of the nearest landmass.  Isolated reefs do not have these anthropogenic dangers to begin with so they already have a better chance of survival.  The MPA need to include the reefs closer to humanity because they are at a higher risk and therefore have a greater need for protection.  If the MPAs focused on these reefs, then it would be more effective program.  

Coral reefs are being monitored by many organizations, both government funded and independent.  They have discovered what was already known: coral reefs are declining.  But what these programs have failed to do is to make the switch from monitoring towards investigation and action.  If the reefs are just being monitored for their health, it is hard to find what is causing this decline in their health.  This is where the investigative process comes in.  The investigative process is necessary because the people who are damaging the reef just blame others.  For example, a farmer will blame overfishing, while a fisherman will blame runoff from the farm.  This finger pointing is counterproductive and is due to the lack of investigation by scientists on the causes of the reef decline.  Until they get concrete evidence that a major cause of the decline of reefs is a combination of overfishing, sedimentation, runoff, and global warming, the people will continue to blame others for something they are actively contributing to.  Once the proof is found, then the next phase, action, will take place.  Once there is undoubtable evidence showing the impact these anthropogenic factors have on coral reefs, we can implement more effective policies to prevent them from doing further damage to the coral reefs.  Only when the agencies move past the monitoring stage will real progress begin on the improvement of coral reef health.  

Coral reef protection policies could be improved by taking into consideration the newest research available.  According to Downs et al. in “Shifting the Paradigm of Coral Reef ‘Health’ Assessment,” the policies that would have the greatest impact on improving the coral reefs health would be ones that included the newest research.  Utilizing outdated research does not allow the policies to grow with the newest data and therefore does not protect the reefs to their greatest ability.  One of these emerging techniques is growing coral in a lab and then releasing it. Marhaver explains this newfound technique in her TED talk, “How We’re Growing Baby Corals to Rebuild Reefs”.  It is essential for the people in charge of the environment to understand what coral is.  It is not a rock, but in fact a colony of small living organisms that live on a limestone skeleton along with algae.  To reproduce, they release spawn into the water which, once fertilized, find their way back to the reef to attach and grow.  In order to grow coral in the lab, the scientist found that they thrived on structures that are white, pink, and have lots of crevices.  They were even able to identify the bacteria that encourages the coral to plant itself and grow on the structure.  With this information, scientists are now able to grow coral in the lab and transplant it to an ideal spot in the ocean when it is ready.  This new technique will lower the mortality rate of coral, giving it a greater chance of reaching maturity and successfully becoming part of a reef.  

Coral reefs may not take up a lot of the surface space on earth, but they are found scattered throughout the tropical waters of the world.  They span across the globe and fall under the jurisdiction of many different countries ranging from small island nations to the United States.  This poses a unique problem because a policy one country might pass, the one next to it might not.   An upside is this means there are a variety of policies effecting coral reefs at any one time, which provides us with an opportunity to learn what programs are the most effective at conserving coral reefs.  Programs in Micronesia have been especially successful.  Pacific Islander villages or clans often have direct ownership over a reef and usually the land upriver from it.  This creates a sense of responsibly towards the reef and they are aware that what happens on the land can directly impact the health of the reef.  They also do not have to deal with a new leader changing policies every two or four years like democratic countries like the U.S. and Australia have to.  Since the reef is owned by a family that passes it down through generations, they want it to be around for their children and grandchildren.  The decline of reefs in this area of the world lead scientists to identify what was causing these reefs to become unhealthy.  In most places, it was deforestation that lead to erosion which smothered the reefs.  Once the villagers realized cutting down trees along rivers was harming their reefs, they stopped the deforestation and even altered their farming techniques to help the reefs recover.  In as little as four years, there has been a remarkable improvement to their reefs.  This is due to their sense of responsibility to the land and the need to pass it down through generations.   They also worked together to communicate effectively with their government to pass laws that allowed the coral reefs to recover.  

Westernized countries are not set up the same as the Micronesian islands.  They are much larger and the reefs are often government property.  But we can still learn from their approach.  In the U.S., coral reef decline is a scientific problem and not a social one.  There needs to be more emphases placed on the social science part of this issue if a solution is to be found.  The people living here suffer from the “tragedy of the commons” which means that everybody thinks someone else will take care of the reefs.  People need to shift their way of thinking and realize that the health of the reefs is everyone’s responsibility and that we need to work together if the reefs are to improve.  This could be achieved through an advertising campaign along the coast and in watershed areas.  People inland often do not think of the consequences their pollution will have on something so far away from them such as a coral reef.  An advertising campaign could enlighten them on the harmful effects and build a sense of responsibly throughout the nation.  Another place the Micronesian islands succeeded where we are currently failing is communication with the government.  There are programs in place to train scientists how to communicate their findings with the government such as the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program and a few others.  These programs need to be taken advantage of so the policies impacting the environment correctly reflect the newest research.

Even if governments implement all of these plans, from the most efficient MPA to educating the public on their direct effect on the coral reefs, it may not be enough to save the coral reefs.  They need to look at the much bigger picture if they truly want the coral reefs survive.  Global warming is the main cause of the mass bleaching events in the past few years.  The largest of which happed in 2016, affecting 91% of individual coral reefs (Hughes et al.).  2017 is setting up to have another mass bleaching, something that has never happened two years in a row.  After coral is bleached, the faster healing species take a minimum of 10 years to heal, but most coral is slow growing and will take decades to recover from bleaching.  Pollution, overfishing, and runoff all halt the healing process of the coral which is a serious issue, but they are not the main culprits causing the coral to become bleached in the first place.  Since the 19th century, global ocean temperatures have risen 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (NY Times).  This temperature increase is even more pronounced in tropical waters which are home to most reefs.  While this may not sound like a significant increase to humans, this temperature rise is a death sentence for many corals.  Recent research has shown that even the strongest legislature will not help the reefs if global warming is to continue.  Australia recently passed the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan.  It is the furthest reaching plan for coral reefs to date and includes restrictions on dredging, dumping, poaching, port development, and other practices that negatively impact the reef.  Overall this is a great plan and will help the great barrier reef recover from the mass bleaching events it had in its northern parts last year due to the overly warm water temperatures.  On the other hand, Australia is the world’s largest coal supplier and just approved a massive new mine inland from the great barrier reef.  This alone negates the Reef 2050 Plan through its future contributions to global warming.  In order for the coral reefs of the world to begin the road to recovery, the focus needs to be shifted to stopping or slowing global warming.  The world needs to cut back on using fossil fuels and turn towards more sustainable energy solutions if the coral reefs are to survive for the next generation.  

Coral reefs are some of the most valuable resources on the planet.  Many species living on reefs and only found on reefs are used in lifesaving drugs and there are many uses yet to be discovered.  Coral reefs also play role worth billions of dollars in the world’s economy.  People will always pay to travel somewhere tropical with beautiful water and places to snorkel.  Coral reefs provide a physical barrier to help protect the coastline from storms.  Without them, the erosion would be much worse and the waves would break closer to shore opposed to out further on the reef.   In poorer countries, millions of people rely on the fish they catch on the reefs for protein.  If the reefs die, food shortages will become a major problem for these people.  These are just a few examples of the importance coral reefs play in our lives.  Without them, people would lose their jobs, run out of medicine, and many homes would be lost.  In order to stop this, the current policies that effect coral reefs must be improved to reflect the most current research, take into consideration what worked in other parts of the world, and take global warming into serious consideration.  If all of this happens, coral reefs stand a fighting chance.
