Coral and Coral Reef

Although coral reefs may be suffering a variety of ills, there is still hope. In the 1980s and 1990s, many countries began to realize the importance of coral reefs and to act accordingly. In response to requests from marine scientists for increased monitoring of reef condition, along with calls from environmental activists for enhanced reef conservation, several countries developed management plans for their reef areas.

In some cases, governments applied lessons learned elsewhere. For example, a small island north of Venezuela—Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles—established a marine park 1979. The park boundaries completely surround the island and ordinances provide some level of protection for all marine resources from the high water mark down to 190 ft (60 m). Bonaire's reefs are now some of the healthiest in the Caribbean, even though they too have been affected at times by reduced water quality, coral disease outbreaks, declining spiny sea urchin populations, and storm damage.

Recent establishment of similar management zones with enforced limitations and controls on marine resource exploitation has resulted in significant improvement in the health of some reef systems. However, it remains to be seen if more restrictive measures may be necessary. In particular, it may be imperative to improve effluent water quality in areas of high population density, such as the Florida Keys.

Global efforts to reduce CO₂ and other greenhouse-gas emissions, such as the Kyoto protocols (signed by most industrial nations, not including the United States), may provide eventual relief to coral reefs. However, because reefs are already suffering severely from global warming and atmospheric CO₂ is predicted to continue rising for some time, the outlook for continuing climatic damage to the world's coral reefs a serious concern to scientists.

Coral reefs are wonderfully diverse and complex ecosystems. They are also vulnerable to damage from a wide range of human influences. Stewardship of coral reefs must improve or these magnificent ecosystems and their many species will become rarer and more endangered than they already are—and many will disappear altogether.