(IPS) Harmful fishing practices, pollution, and warmer ocean temperatures severely threaten 88 percent of Southeast Asia's biologically rich coral reefs, according to a new study.
The findings indicate that threats to reefs in the region, which contains about 34 percent of the world's total reefs, also endanger Southeast Asia's economic well-being and food security, according to the study, Reefs at Risk: Southeast Asia.
''Coral reefs are the cornerstone of the economic and social fabric of Southeast Asia, yet they are the most threatened reefs in the world,'' says Lauretta Burke, a senior associate with the Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI) and a co-author of the study.
More than 90 percent of the coral reefs in Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, China and the Spratly Islands are threatened, says the report, published by WRI in collaboration with a number of organisations including the U.N. Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Coral Reef Action Network, both based in Britain.
The study, which involved 35 scientists from across the region, also says that some 85 percent of the reefs of Malaysia and Indonesia are threatened.
Indonesia, an archipelago with the largest coral reef systems in the region, and the Philippines together possess 77 percent of the region's coral reefs and nearly 80 percent of all threatened reefs in the region, it adds.
Global epicentre
Southeast Asia has been called the 'global epicentre' of marine biological diversity. Its nearly 100,000 sq km of coral reefs house more than 600 of the 800 reef-building coral species in the world, according to the report.
''It is not unusual to find a greater variety of species around a single in this region than can be found on all the coral reefs in the Caribbean,'' it says.
The report emphasises the substantial economic value coral reefs provide to the region through fishing, tourism, and shoreline protection. It estimates the economic value of Southeast Asia's coral reef fisheries at US$ 2.4 billion annually. Besides providing food for millions of people within the region, the reefs also generate millions of dollars in tourism and employment.
The total economic value of Indonesia's reefs is estimated at US$1.6 billion annually, according to the report, while reefs in the Philippines generate about US1.1 billion per year.
This heavy reliance on marine resources across Southeast Asia has resulted in the overexploitation and degradation of many coral reefs, particularly those near major population centres.
Over-fishing has been the most pervasive threat to coral reefs in the region. About 64 percent of Southeast Asia's reefs are at risk from too much fishing. The over-harvesting of fish in Cambodia, Japan, and the Philippines threatens more than 70 percent of the reefs there.
''If fishing in Southeast Asia is not reduced to more sustainable levels, both coral reefs and food security will be further imperiled,'' says Mark Spalding, a senior scientist with UNEP-WCMC.
Destructive fishing practices, including the use of poisons and dynamite, threaten an estimated 56 percent of the region's coral reefs. The threat is particularly high in the Spratly and Paracel Islands of the South China Sea, and in Vietnam.
More than two-thirds of the reefs in the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan, as well as more than 50 percent of those in Indonesia were threatened by destructive fishing. Sedimentation and pollution related to coastal development and land use changes put 37 percent of the region's reefs at risk.
Coral bleaching
Warmer sea-surface temperatures, which scientists believe could be related to global warming trends and the El Nino weather phenomenon, have also caused severe damage to corals in the region. A disease, known as 'coral bleaching', thrives in warm-water temperatures and causes coral to turn white and eventually die.
The 1997-1998 El Nino triggered the largest worldwide coral-bleaching event ever recorded, which led to the destruction of 18 percent of Southeast Asia's corals.
In order to stave off the rapid destruction of corals, the report recommends the establishment of an extended system of protected areas for coral reefs. Only eight percent of the region's reefs are in marine protected areas. Better management of existing marine reserves also is needed, according to the study.
Out of 332 protected reserves whose management effectiveness could be determined by the report's authors, only 14 percent are rated as ''effectively managed.''
''Effective management is key to maintaining coastal resources, but it is inadequate across much of Southeast Asia,'' says Elizabeth Selig, a research analyst with WRI.
Although successful management of marine reserves requires additional investments, the cost of inaction is even greater, the report argues. Over a 20-year period, current levels of blast fishing, over-fishing, and sedimentation could cost Indonesia more than 2.6 billion dollars and the Philippines, US2.5 billion.
''This report shows that it is in a country's economic self-interest to protect and properly manage its coastal resources,'' says Fidel Ramos, former president of the Philippines, who wrote the foreword to the report.