Posted by Brad on February 16, 2002 at 18:21:20:
Decay of World Coral Reef Threatens Ocean Wonders
Thu Feb 14, 3:15 PM ET
By Mark John
PARIS (Reuters) - Human abuse risks turning the world's coral reefs into a "seaweed-covered pile of rock and rubble"
bereft of its technicolor marine life, the author of a new report said Thursday.
The death of fragile exotica like the venomous cone snail or the Reunion angelfish would not only destroy the natural beauty
of the reef but stunt its huge potential in science's quest for new medicines, the international study warned.
"There's been a reluctance to consider sea animals as at threat from extinction," said British-based marine conservation
biologist Callum Roberts, co-author of the report to be published in the February 15 issue of Science magazine.
"What we have shown is that many species are limited to small islands and that localized impacts can wipe them out."
The study highlights 10 coral reef "hotspots" from the Philippines to the Caribbean most at risk from overfishing, pollution
and climate change and urges the creation of marine reserves to prevent greater destruction.
The United Nations (news - web sites) Environment Program (UNEP), which last year warned the world's coral reefs were
shrinking fast, said the study was a wake-up call to focus conservation efforts.
"We must ensure that this unique ecosystem continues to feed, protect and dazzle us and our descendants for generations to
come," UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said in a statement.
DEADLY MOLLUSC
Coral reefs, often called the "rainforests of the ocean" for the rich diversity of life they support, occupy 284,300 square km
(110,000 square miles) of the planet's surface -- an area half the size of France.
Dynamite fishing, polluting sediment caused by farming and deforestation of coastal land areas, global warming, and the
growth of scuba-diver tourism are threatening over half the world's reef, the report found.
"Degraded reef looks like a seaweed-covered pile of rock and rubble," Roberts, a senior lecturer at the University of York
in northern England, said in an interview.
"The water is murky and is less productive for food," he added, noting the risk to diet and livelihood for coastal communities
heavily reliant on seafood.
Turning coral reefs into marine reserves would not only boost fish catches in the long term but, Roberts argues, make them
more attractive for carefully regulated tourism.
The study, supported by U.S.-based biodiversity protection group Conservation International, focused on more than 3,000
species of fish, coral, snail and lobster that need healthy reef environments to survive.
Some creatures are already feared extinct, including some variants of the brilliantly-colored angelfish and damselfish popular
in home aquariums.
But more is at stake than maintaining supplies to fishtanks. Coral compounds are used in drugs such as AZT, a treatment for
the HIV virus (news - web sites), and some reef-dwellers could provide inspiration for further medical breakthroughs.
Roberts cited the cone snail, a fish-eating mollusc with venom 1,000 times more powerful than morphine, as showing
promise for development as a human painkiller.
"We are only scratching the surface of what reefs could potentially supply," he said.