Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are important habitats that are part of underwater’s ecosystem. It is the shelter and the source of food to many underwater species. It is sensitive and somewhat fragile. If something happens to it, ocean life will be threatened and it may lead to human insufficient supplies of seafoods. We will all be affected. In the recent generation, it has been that 10% of coral reef has been destroyed and a much larger percent has been threatened.

Damaged or destroyed coral reefs can actually be found in more than 93 countries and the coral reefs in pacific of South & South East Asia, East Africa and the Caribbean have the greatest risk. Coral Reef destruction is mainly caused by human. Human activities produced global warming which is the main “murderer”of coral reefs.

Underwater Ecosystem made balance by Coral Reef

Coral reef conservation.

Government, Non-government and International organizations has been practicing coral reef conservation since 1990’s. In 1994, an organization called International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) was founded by eight countries. Their objective is to strictly implement proper measure in coral reef conservation. They have also been educating the people worldwide about coral reef and how to take care of it.

More other organizations involved in coral reef conservation are; Global Coral Relief Monitoring Network, U.S. Coral Reef Initiative, NGO, Project AWARE, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the Environmental Projection Agency and many more.

Other than those organizations, you can help too by following some of these tips below in helping Coral Reef Conservation.

• Report any coral reef damage you see to your local dive operators or conservation groups near you.
• When sailing, make sure to navigate your boat carefully to avoid contact on coral reef and make sure to maintain your engine to prevent oil or gas spills.
• Enroll in any education programs about coral reef conservation offered by conservation groups or be in the group itself.
• Be active and supportive. When you see litter on a coral reef, pick it up immediately and educate people about it. Try also to organize a coral reef cleanup on your community. You’ll see, it’ll be fun and a big help to our beloved coral reefs.

Damaged Coral Reef caused by Coral Reef Destruction

Surely, we can all be a part of big community that saves the threatened coral reef. Don’t be the cause of coral reef destruction but be the part of its conservation.

The coral reef is probably the most diverse area in the seas since they allow fishes to live and eat. Due to its natural protection to certain predators, small fishes prefer to lay their eggs on the coral’s surface. In general, its diversity is made because of predator-prey interaction and some mutual interaction such as the fishes and corals. They are thus called the “rainforest” of the seas.

But these homes are slowly dying. Basically, there are two major factors that contribute to the death of coral reefs. Human related activities, such as illegal fishing, excessive exploitation and tourism have a very big impact to their death and the second factor is also made by humans also – global warming.

Global warming is one of the evidence that shows how humans helped make the world hotter and Mother Nature does not like it. It affects every organism that lives in this time, even the ones under the waters.  Coral reefs are affected by this because they are very sensitive to even the slightest change in temperature and pH concentration. Their death is fast and cannot be compensated by their reproduction since even in the normal condition, they reproduce slowly.

There are many effects to the world if the coral reef will be erased entirely. Their very function itself causes extinction to many marine organisms that depend on them for protection and foraging, and followed by the death of those animals that live by feeding on the organism living in the corals. This process is called successive extinction due to the loss of their limited geographic distribution.

Should we wait for that time to come to change what we are doing wrong? By being aware of this, people should take the first move in conservation since we are in top of the hierarchy of species.

The Coral Reef is most likely the place where all types of fishes stay to find their mate or lay eggs. Because of its very diversity, coral reefs are also called the “rainforest” of the ocean. Although these coral reefs account for only about 1% of the world’s ocean, they are home to 25% of life underwater.

But due to a lot of factors including human-related activities and the inevitable warming of the planet, these majestic structures have been slowly dying.

The world’s largest coral reef in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, has already been affected. Bleaching occurs when algae are forced to leave the polyps during high temperature in the seas. Some bleached corals recover in the next season but most of them die especially when all the algae that live in them are lost.  The magnitude of the damage is not yet confirmed but it is very visible when the reef is seen on top view.

The destruction of these reefs can result to an end to another ecosystem, termed as the DOMINO EFFECT. When this happens, those marine animals that depend on the coral reefs are most likely be wiped out due to predation. There will be an impact to the economy of the countries which depends largely on fishery. Shores will also be damaged and tourism will decline. The balance of nature will be disrupted and extinction of many species will occur.