IMAGINE if plants and trees take a year to grow a centimetre or a millimetre, obviously, there would not be enough oxygen for everyone to survive on.
Well, for marine life, whose survival depends very much on coral reefs, may not be around for long to supplement our diet or meet our social and economical needs as that is how long it takes for corals to grow back when damaged.
Fast growing corals, however, take six to nine months to grow, according to one of Fiji’s marine scientific officer Iliapi Tuwai.
Coral reefs in Papua New Guinea and throughout the Pacific islands are becoming over fished and degraded as communities turn to destructive methods of fishing such as fishing with poison ropes, dynamite and unsustainable practices such as coral harvesting to raise cash for their daily needs, especially in the making and selling of lime (kambang).
Marine resource depletion has negatively affected the health and the prosperity of island communities.
Coral reefs play a dominant role in the ecology and functioning of tropical ecosystems because they are highly productive and provide habitat and food for a complex array of marine life.
It was highlighted by Green Peace’s Jenny Baing in one of the Sea series lectures conducted by SeaWeb and attended by journalists recently that coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems, with estimates of reef species ranging from 600,000 to more than nine million species worldwide.
“Almost a third of the world’s marine life species are found on coral reefs, where it plays a significant role in protecting small island states from storms, erosion and flooding.”
Corals help plants on land to remove and recycle carbon dioxide.
Excessive amounts of this gas contribute to global warming.
Reefs shelter land from harsh ocean storms and floods.
They also provide resources for fisheries.
Food items include fishes, crustaceans, and molluscs.
As an economic benefit, coral reefs attract tourists.
The coral reef is an intricate ecosystem and contains a diverse collection of organisms.
Without the reef, these organisms would die as it provides biotic services, for example, habitat maintenance, biological support through mobile links, such as fish that move from mangroves in the juvenile stages to coral reefs in their adult life.
The coral reef provides a living laboratory as it provides information services such as climate record.
Both students and scientists can study the interrelationships of organisms and their environment.
It is very important to note that the growth rate of corals and coral reefs depends on factors such as light intensity, water temperature, salinity, turbidity, food availability, competition for space, and predation.
As supported by Seaworld Adventure, upward growth of coral colonies is generally between 0.5 to 4 inches (1-10cm) a year.
“Although various types of corals can be found from the water’s surface to depths of 19,700ft (6,000m), reef-building corals are generally found at depths of less than 150ft (46m), where sunlight penetrates.
Because reef- building corals have a symbiotic relationship with a type of microscopic algae, sunlight is necessary for these corals to thrive and grow.”
Reefs tend to grow faster in clear water.
Hence, if we pollute and make our seas mucky, then we are indirectly killing our coral reefs, eventually leading to the extinction of other marine life.
Ocean pollution poisons corals. Pollution takes on many forms including oil slicks, pesticides and other chemicals, heavy metals and garbage.
Fertilizer runoff and untreated sewage also adds to the pollution of coastal ecosystems.
These elevated pollution levels promote algae growth.
Unfortunately, high concentrations of algae or solid sewage can overwhelm and smother corals.
However, under normal conditions, herbivores fish and some invertebrates keep the algae population in check.
Deforestation degrades more than just land habitats.
When tropical forests are cut down to clear land for agriculture, pasture, or homes, topsoil washes down rivers into coastal ecosystems.
Soil that settles on reefs smothers corals and blocks out the sunlight needed for corals to live.
Coastal development and dredging ravages reefs, such development includes building seaside homes, hotels and harbours.
Careless handling of nets, lines and lobster traps also causes damages to reefs.
International seashell and aquarium trades have put a strain on coral reefs and reef inhabitants.
Excessive collecting decimates reef species and has upset the balance of the reef ecosystems.
Careful monitoring of these trades will help make sure that the demand for reef species does not exceed the sustainable supply.
Souvenir trade has also created an international market for coral skeletons, shells, sponges, and other reef animals.
Coral skeletons are used for decoration aquariums, or fashioned into jewelry and sculptures. Careless water recreationist also damage reefs.
Divers and snorklers that stand on, sit on, or handle corals can injure the delicate life forms.
Dropped boat anchors can gouge reefs and crush corals.
(Boaters should be very careful when navigating around coral reefs.
Anchors should not be dropped directly on the reef, but on near-by sandy areas.
Divers should rest by floating or standing on the sandy bottom.
They should be very careful not to grab on to any coral formations.)
It is also understood that changes in sea level is detrimental to established corals and reefs.
A drop in sea level exposes corals.
And a rise in sea level decreases the amount of available sunlight and may inhibit growth, and can also release pollutants trapped in soil.
Sometimes major tropical storms can strip corals from miles of reef habitat.
In regulating and protecting these slow growing animals, corals should not be collected, either alive or dead.
The government should prohibit the removal or destruction of corals a from all areas within certain limit.
According to Susan Ewen, the coordinator of the Papua New Guinea locally-managed marine areas (PNG LMMA) network that is administered within The Nature Conservancy, coral reefs can also be managed and protected under the LMMAnetwork programmes.
The management programmes carried out in marine protected areas (MPAs) in the maritime provinces can maintain its efforts to divert the degradation of reefs and resource depletion by working in partnership with resource owners in empowering them to take full responsibility of the wise utilisation of their resources and the protection of coral reefs.
However, most of these programmes carried out in Papua New Guinea are mostly funded and facilitated by overseas nongovernmental organisations, hence, the impact is limited to the targeted areas.
Therefore, to have the best out of these programmes in order to save our coral reefs for our benefit now and in the future, these programmes should use an integrated approach whereby collaborations should be made with relevant government ministries, local non-governmental organisations and private sectors.
This is so that the programmes complement the efforts of the stakeholders involved to ensure that through their projects, they help to assist in meeting the national goals and policies.
To complement the programmes under the current marine protected areas, the government should look at establishing marine sanctuaries or preserves to help ensure that this ecosystem is protected now and in the years to come.
Hence, if corals take a year to grow a centimetre, and maybe some thousand years to bring it to what we now appreciate as coral reefs, just imagine if we deplete everything and wait for it to grow back.