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Increasing protection: coral reefs and mangrove forests

Coral reef, Fiji.

Coral reef, Fiji.

© WWF-Canon / Cat HOLLOWAY

Protection means less stress on the system

WWF has been active in coral reef conservation since the early 1970s, carrying out over 100 related projects in more than 30 countries. We have successfully combined fieldwork and advocacy, and have delivered impressive results.

Why protect corals and mangroves?

  • Roughly 1/5 of coral reefs worldwide are already considered damaged beyond repair
  • Another 2/3 under serious threat
  • More than 35% of the world's mangroves are already gone, and the figure is as high as 50% in some countries
  • Less than 1% of the remaining mangrove forests are adequately protected
  • Seagrass meadows too have declined alarmingly, and even disappeared, in some parts of the world.

Solutions

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) help by reducing stresses such as destructive fishing practices and overfishing.

This makes these ecosystems more resilient and so less vulnerable to other threats like global warming, pollution, and sediment run-off from the land. For example, the absence of other stresses makes it easier for tropical corals to recover from a coral bleaching incident.

More on corals and mangroves...

More information

What others are doing

Find out about OceansWatch and their marine conservation work
To magnify and accelerate coral conservation, WWF's Global Marine Programme established a Coral Reefs Advocacy Initiative in 2002. The initiative builds on previous work, and complements WWF’s on-the-ground projects for coral, mangrove, and seagrass protection.

Conservation wins
The initiative has contributed to a number of significant wins in its first three years. These include:
  • A new zoning plan for Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park that created the world’s largest network of marine highly protected areas.

  • New commitments for coral and mangrove protection on every continent, including a commitment by the government of Fiji to protect at least 30% of its seas in MPAs by 2020.

  • Formal inter-governmental commitments for collaborative action on coastal marine resource management in the Mesoamerican Reef (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico), Eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa), the Western Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, and Reunion), the Bismarck Solomon Seas (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands), and the Sulu Sulawesi Seas (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines).

  • The pioneering involvement of fisheries agencies in collaborating on national approaches to MPA network design and implementation in Fiji, New Zealand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

  • The passing of the Marine Turtle Conservation Act by the US Senate, establishing a fund for marine turtle conservation of which a good portion is expected to be used for coral and mangrove protection.

  • A commitment by the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic to strengthen the resolution protecting European cold-water coral reefs.

  • A 2004 European Union Regulation to eliminate trawling near the UK's Darwin Mounds, effectively protecting this cold-water reef from its most deadly threat.

  • The incorporation of cold-water coral protection worldwide on the agendas of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and UNEP's Coral Reef Unit.
  • Application of the EU Habitats and Birds Directives to include the full extent of the maritime jurisdiction of EU member states, thus protecting a number of cold-water coral and seagrass meadow habitats throughout European seas.

Better protection for the Great Barrier Reef

Snorkellers on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
Stretching for 2,300 kilometers along Australia's northeast coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system and its largest living structure. Home to thousands of species and comprised of diverse reef types, habitats, and environmental regimes, it is an area of enormous scientific - not to mention economic and cultural - importance. It is also one of WWF's focal marine ecoregions.

Protected in name only
In 1975, over 98% of the reef - 345,400km2, an area roughly the size of Japan - was designated as a National Park. This Great Barrier Marine Park was in turn declared a World Heritage Site in 1981.

But despite these designations, only 4.6% of the park was strictly protected. The rest was open to all forms of tourism and fishing - including bottom trawling, one of the most destructive fishing methods. Overall, of the 70 bioregions in the park, 14 had no protection at all and 24 had extremely low levels of protection.

New network of highly protected sanctuaries
WWF used the opportunity of a planned zoning review to campaign for a comprehensive network of marine sanctuaries to be created throughout the park, giving a high level of protection for the full range of habitats -  not just corals but also seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, and sponge and algal gardens.

In 2003, after three years of campaigning by WWF and others, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority announced that the area of the park under strict protection would rise to a massive 33% - making the park the world's largest network of marine highly protected areas. The new zoning plan came into effect in 2004.

Tourism is continuing in the new, scientifically-based network of sanctuaries, but all commercial and recreational fishing is prohibited. This will reduce pressure on the Great Barrier Reef and enhance its capacity to overcome large-scale threats linked to climate change and global warming as well as declining water quality from poor land management in adjacent catchment areas. The US$3.4 billion tourism industry will also benefit as the abundance of life on the reef grows.

Other successes
WWF has also successfully campaigned for other measures to reduce the impacts of human activities on the park. For example, in 2000 WWF secured a government commitment to introduce turtle excluder devices on every trawl vessel operating in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. These reduce marine turtle deaths due to bycatch by allowing caught turtles to escape trawl nets.

In 2001 WWF campaigned to raise awareness about land-based pollution and its effect on the park, and called for a protection plan to reduce agricultural runoff. In 2003, the Australian and Queensland federal and state governments announced such a plan, which is now being implemented.

WWF also worked on drafting a fisheries management plan for the reef’s second-largest fishery, the coral reef fishery. The plan was approved in 2003, and is being progressively implemented. The plan includes full protection for three iconic species of reef fish: the humphead maori wrasse, the potato cod, and the barramundi cod.

Further information:

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