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Ever since ARK's inception in the mid 1990's, our mission has been to protect the coral reefs of the British Virgin Islands. Throughout the world coral reefs are under stress due to a number of factors, mainly due to human intervention. ARK developed the following simple guidelines that water enthusiasts and the local community can use to help preserve the marine ecosystem that is so important to the area. These are printed on the ARK flyers, which are available from this website. Click here for more information.
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On the reverse of the ARK flyer are Reef Protection advisory guidelines for divers, boaters and snorkellers as follows: |
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DIVERS
SNORKELLERS BOATERS
The coral reefs are precious and delicate.
Their future depends on you.
Worldwide coral reefs are suffering degradation from various factors - pollution, overfishing, excess nutrients
... and tourist activity.
PLEASE TAKE CARE NOT TO INFLICT FURTHER DAMAGE.
TOUCH NOTHING
The slightest touch with hands, fins or equipment can irreparably damage coral polyps, the tiny animals that build the coral reefs. Remember, most corals only grow a half inch per year.
REMAIN HORIZONTAL
Remain horizontal in the water and snorkel in water over your depth. Snorkeling on shallow reefs can easily inflict damage to the coral and cause personal injury. In a vertical position, your flapping fins are killers! They break coral and stir up sediment that can smother the coral polyps. For equipment adjustment, swim out and away from the coral into deep water.
UNSURE, UNEASY
Wear a float vest, and practice your skills off a sandy beach.
LOOK, ENJOY AND LEAVE
Take nothing dead or alive from the reef.
DO NOT ANCHOR ON CORAL
Use mooring buoys where available or anchor on a sandy bottom. Anchors, chain and line should not touch coral (dinghy anchors included). If there is no sandy bottom, don't anchor, but leave an attendant in the dinghy while the rest of the party snorkels or dives.
FEEDING THE FISH
Caution, you may be injured! Feeding can make fish aggressive and dangerous. It also upsets species distribution and may introduce disease.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Avoid cumbersome rigs. Don't brace yourself on the coral to take a photo. Damaging the reef even inadvertently for the sake of a photo is not worth it.
DIVERS
Adjust buoyancy. Secure all dangling gauges, consoles, and octopus regulators. Know where your fins are. Air bubbles trapped in caves will destroy marine growth. Bubbles rising on a vertical rock face can scour; don't get too close.
THINK, CARE AND ENJOY
HELP THE REEF GIVE CONTINUING ENJOYMENT
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CORAL REEFS IN CRISIS...
Sadly, coral reefs are being plundered by human activities on a global scale. Overfishing, blast and poison fishing, pollution and sedimentation are seriously damaging reefs. Coral bleaching killed more corals in 1998 than in any previous year. There are simple solutions to the coral reef crisis, but we all need to work together to be successful to save the reefs.
Coral reefs thrive in warm water with moderate, stable salinity and a small amount of nutrients or sediment. They are widely considered a barometer of global warming.
Coral reef bleaching occurs from the death of zooxanthellae, a symbiotic algae that lives in the structure of the coral and is essential to its survival.
Global warming, the El Niñ¯ ¡nd La Nina phenomenona and changes in ocean circulation and temperature are among prime suspects which cause bleaching.
In 1997 and 1998 there was an unprecedented recorded bleaching of coral reefs throughout the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the Caribbean and parts of the far Eastern and Western Pacific. This bleaching has been in parallel with big swings in the global climate with the sever El Nino event at this time. Between February and April 2000 severe bleaching was seen in the South Pacific, while up to 90% of coral reefs affected in parts of Fiji, they do appear to be recovering. The affected areas are being monitored by GCRMN (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network) and Reef Check teams.
For more information on coral bleaching and monitoring please visit the following websites.
Reef Check - volunteer global monitoring programme
Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network - a global monitoring programme integrating government and scientific programmes.
NOAA Coral Reef Hotspots Satellite Data - a global meteorological satellite observing system which highlights possible coral bleaching zones
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WHY CARE ABOUT CORAL REEFS?
Coral reefs are the second most biodiverse ecosystem on earth - a vast storehouse of untapped genetic material. Reefs protect the coast from storm-wave erosion, and their beauty attracts millions of scuba divers and tourists. If properly managed, reef fish and shellfish offer a potentially sustainable food source for hundreds of millions of coastal dwellers throughout the tropics.
CORAL REEFS - DECLINING WORLDWIDE!
Coral reefs of the world are declining at an alarming rate. Assessments to late 2000 are that 27% of the world's reefs have been effectively lost, with the largest single cause being the massive climate-related coral bleaching event of 1998. This destroyed about 16% of the coral reefs of the world in 9 months during the largest El Nino and La Nina climate changes ever recorded. While there is a good chance that many of the reefs can recover, probably half of them will never adequately recover. These will add to the 11% of the world's reefs already lost due to human impacts such as sediment and nutrient pollution, overexploitation and mining of sand and development on and reclamation of coral reefs. In the Caribbean it is estimated that 22% of reefs are lost due mostly to previous human stresses, hurricanes, bleaching and coral diseases.
THE FUTURE...
It is suggested that 40% of the worlds coral reefs will be lost by 2010 and another 20% in the following 20 years, unless urgent management action is implemented. The above data is extracted from a publication entitled "Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000." It is available through the Australian Institute of Marine Science; their web site can be found at http://www.aims.gov.au./ It was launched at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium held in Bali Indonesia in October 2000.
BVI's contribution to the Report: "Status of Coral Reefs of the World:2000"
Trish Baily from ARK BVI attended the conference and presented a poster on the Status of the BVI Coral Reefs. Clive Petrovic, Ms. Baily, and Mervin Hastings from Conservation and Fisheries Dept published a report on the status of the BVI reefs.
STATUS OF REEFS IN BVI AND SURROUNDING ISLANDS:
A summary from the Report:
Anthropogenic threats to coral reef biodiversity are considered to be a dominant factor in coral reef decline. These include:
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Erosion and sedimentation: "increased sedimentation from shoreline development, often for tourism infrastructure, destruction of mangroves, and dredging in the BVI..." See the Erosion and Sedimentation section of this web site for further info. - Overfishing was listed as a major threat.
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Eutrophication from sewage is causing proliferation of algae and increased turbidity.
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Physical damage from yacht anchors and divers, although in the BVI the rapid expansion of the permanent moorings both by National Parks Trust and Commercial moorings are helping alleviate this problem
Recommendations from the Status Report:
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