Coral Triangle has lost 40% of reefs

The World Ocean Conference was held in Manado the last few days and various depressing reports of the state of our oceans were released yet again. One such report is the WWF report of the coral reef situation in the Coral Triangle. I'll let the BBC's headline speak for itself:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8047138.stm

Here is the WWF brief on that report:

http://www.panda.org/wwf_news/?164062/Cora...splace-millions

Hopefully the conference conveyed the urgency of measure needed to understand and perhaps halt the decline of the reefs. There are good signs that governments are supporting this sort of larger thinking like the progressive government of President Yudhoyono of Indonesia, whose office inspired the creation of the Coral Triangle Initiative.

The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) is a consortium of countries in South East Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor and PNG) and supported by several governments like the US and Australia and various NGO like the TNC and WWF.

Coral Triangle Initiative

I sincerely hope things are changing for the better. I want my son and his grandsons to see the beauty beneath the sea in these regions

Unfortunately, many of these countries are not exactly well governed with relatively poorly paid officials to run the show despite the promises and pledges by givts. Each man for himself to rake in as much money as he can while he is in a position of authority and turn a blind eye to offences happening in their views.

I hope I'm wrong but I got a DSLR/housing recently to capture the beauty of underwater before they are gone

I consider one of the policy officers of the Coral Triangle Initiative a good friend and this person works hard to make sure that the reefs are protected. While true that the countries who are part of this initiative are not the best funded, there is a strong desire to maintain a healthy reef system. Not sure what else we can do aside from cheerfully paying park fees and supporting the dive industry in those areas so they'll be even more keen as happy divers are paying divers.

Stu

I know a few people in the CTI and they are definitely working hard to make it work by working with USAID and other financial organizations to raise money for the programs needed to police the areas.

As for what can be done, stay tuned as Wetpixel will be launching an event to help in a small but meaningful way soon. Stay tuned!