Coral reefs play
major roles in sustaining Earth’s atmosphere and natural environment. They support
a huge number of marine species and are vital to sustaining Earth’s biodiversity.
Thousands of species rely on coral reefs for both nutrients and habitats.
Therefore, the destruction of coral reefs due to climate change, pollution, and
other factors has a powerfully detrimental effect on marine ecosystems.
The Mesoamerican
Barrier Reef System is the second longest reef system in the world, second only
to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. It is found off
the coast of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and continues down toward Guatemala,
Belize, and Honduras. This stretch of coral reef has recently been adversely
affected by climate change, pollution, and
overfishing in the area. Despite these issues, in 2008 only 6% of the reef was
declared to be in critical condition by the Healthy
Reefs/Iniciativa de Arrecifes Saludables (HRI) in its 2010 Report Card
for the Mesoamerican Reef. However, by 2010, that figure had jumped to an
alarming 31%. Moreover, Central America only accounts for 0.5% of the
greenhouse gases that cause the global warming which has begun to take its toll
on the Mesoamerican Reef. As a result, it is the responsibility of countries
like the United States, which produces a huge amount of greenhouse gas, to make
serious changes in order to reduce our negative impact on climate change.
On the other hand, there are several other factors
contributing to the deterioration of the coral reefs such as coastal
development, tourism, and as previously mentioned, overfishing. Governments of
Central American countries should be working to pass legislation to curb the
effects of these problems and some are already doing so. The loss of coral reef
not only will lead to a loss of biodiversity, but also the extinction of many
species of fish which make up a large portion of the world’s diet. Preserving
the coral reef systems is an absolutely essential task for life on Earth to
continue as we know it.
For more information:
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/mesoamerican-coral-reef-on-the-way-to-becoming-a-marine-desert
Interesting. It would be even more so if you allowed your voice to come through and placed this issue in larger context, especially with regards to class discussion.
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ReplyDeleteThe protection of the Mesoamerican Coral Reef and coral reef systems in general is not only important purely for biodiversity preservation but also for human economic and subsistence reasons. In some cases, in seeking to exploit the coral reef biodiversity in the pursuit of economic gains, local communities’ intellectual property rights are violated especially in the tourism industry. One example I found is the case of the Kuna people who live on Panama’s northeastern Caribbean coast which is home to beautiful sandy beaches, clear water, and coral reefs. According to a system of laws developed by the Kuna General Congress (CGK), hotel owners are responsible for charging a $1 tax to hotel guests per day, to distribute proceeds among the surrounding Kuna communities. However, ever since the CGK began keeping records of these tax receipts in 1996, it became evident that the revenues from tourism were severely underreported. Specifically, of the fifteen hotels operating in the area, only three were reported in official CGK records as tax payers, and even those pay only $10 to $15 dollars per month. In t this case, the exploitation of the beauty of coral reef biodiversity results in the violation of local communities’ rights to receive compensation. A sustainable solution should be developed in order to preserve biodiversity, as well as improve compensation plans to local communities who reserve the right to benefit from their land.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/panama/kuna-general-congress-and-statute-tourism