Reef Check 2004 Teaching Presentation: Introduction Reef Check-UCLA

1. Reef Check 2004 Teaching Presentation: Introduction Reef Check-UCLA 1362 Hershey Hall Box 95-1496 UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496 (310) 794-4985 www.reefcheck.org

2. History • In 1993 at a Symposium in Miami a question was asked: What is the health of the world’s coral reefs? • Science “as usual” failed to give answers because: • Too few scientists, too little time on reefs • Too few study sites • Few long-term studies • Emphasis on basic research • Different questions and methods

3. Why do we care? • Home to ¼ of all marine fish • Support tourist economies • a new frontier for medical research • A food source for 100s of millions of people • Coastal protection from wave erosion • 20 million scuba divers • Great beauty and spiritual value

4. Threats to Coral Reefs

5. Cyanide Fishing

6. Blast Fishing

7. Reef gleaning Muro-ami Overfishing

8. What is the health of coral reefs globally? Before Reef Check scientists had not answered this question because: • Too few scientists, too little time on reefs • Too few study sites • Few long-term studies • Emphasis on basic research • Different questions and methods

9. 1997 –Reef Check begins • Reef Check designed global survey method for Int’l Year of the Reef • Simple, Rapid, All volunteer • Combined manpower of local communitieswith scientific experts • ‘Eco-holistic’ -- not just fish or coral • Provides basic data on coral reef health • Applicable anywhere in the world

10. Target Reef Check “communities” include: • Villagers/fisherfolk • Tourist divers • Local dive clubs • Government agencies • Local/regional NGO’s, conservation groups • Other stakeholders

11. RC global-scale goals: • Science • a synoptic assessment of human impacts on coral reefs based on long-term monitoring of selected sites • Conservation and Management • raise public awareness about value of coral reefs, threats to their health and solutions • build a network of monitoring and management teams • Provide local resource managers with the tools necessary to manage their reefs

12. Community involvement • Involving the community in monitoring is the only answer • Most cost-effective • Builds stewardship • Builds support for government management efforts

13. Reef Check Monitoring • Each country has a coordinator • Provide seed funding to new teams • Monitoring is simple and fun so will be repeated

14. What do we monitor? • High value fish typically targeted by aquarium collectors, spear fishermen and others. • Count at family level, with specific exceptions • Invertebrate species typically targeted as food species or collected for curio trade. • Substrate categories chosen to detect large scale changes.

15. Success! • 1997: 750 divers, >100 marine scientists, 31 countries, 350 reefs surveyed • 1998: >1000 divers, >150 scientists, 40 countries, 250 reefs • 1999: >1500 divers, >160 scientists 50 countries, 250 reefs • 2000: Expansion within each country: 50+ sites in Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia • 2001: Expanded to 8 new countries and territories • 2002: Continue to expand….

16. Reef Check Global Network 1997-2001 1400 Reefs, 62 Countries and Territories

17. Reef Check Results • First scientific documentation of global extent of coral reef crisis in 1997 • Tracked 1998 global bleaching, 10% mortality confirmed in 1999 • High-value species missing from most reefs • Red Sea reefs -- healthiest in the world • Many remote reefs just as bad as those near cities • Many marine parks are not working well

18. Reef Check Strategy

19. Management Successes • Soufriere, St Lucia -- Marine Management Authority uses RC to demonstrate the value of the marine protected area (MPA) for fish • Gilutongan Island, Cebu, Philippines – local barrio decided to set up MPA after RC participation. Today most successful urban, no-take MPA in Philippines (Ross et al, 2000).

20. Management Successes • Hainan, PRC – government sets up provincial monitoring and management program following RC training.

21. Education Successes • Recife, Brazil – local government decides to set up children’s reef education center after RC shows reef damage. • In collaboration with Friends of the Reef, RC Indo conducts art contest to educate school teachers and students in Bali.