07
Oct 2008 - Barcelona, Spain - The survival
of species critical to the livelihoods of
millions - such as those in the "nusery
grounds" of the Coral Triangle - is
being called into question in the wake of
the IUCN's warning this week of a mass global
extinction unseen for 65 million years.
The warning was issued
during the World Conservation Congress in
Barcelona, as the IUCN issued the latest
update in its Red List of threatened species.
The IUCN has for the
first time assessed all 161 species of grouper,
a reef fish which makes up a large part
of the lucrative live fish trade in the
Coral Triangle, which spans Malaysia, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon
Islands and Timor Leste, and contains 75
per cent of the world’s coral species, as
well as critical spawning grounds for globally
valuable species such as reef fish and tuna.
Twenty grouper species
were assessed as threatened with extinction,
including the squaretail coral grouper and
humpback grouper, which are found throughout
the Coral Triangle and are a popular luxury
live food in Asian seafood restaurants.
“The huge demand for
live reef fish among wealthy consumers in
China and in Chinese communities around
the world is a major contributor to the
overfishing of these species,” said Geoffrey
Muldoon, programme leader for WWF’s live
reef fish work in the Coral Triangle.
“The squaretail coral
grouper is an example of a species that
cannot currently be farmed and therefore
all fish are caught from the wild. In order
for operators to meet increasing demand,
many are resorting to targeting spawning
aggregations, many of which are now disappearing
from the Coral Triangle.”
Resource depletion rates
in the Coral Triangle are high and accelerating
due to the explosive growth of Asian fish
markets and the insatiable demand for tuna
and shrimp in the US, Europe and Japan.
Local demand for food
and space is also adding to global pressures
and enhancing the risk of instability and
insecurity. This is further compounded by
the impacts of climate change and destructive
fishing techniques, such as the use of explosives
or cyanide to catch reef fish.
“Coastal development,
destructive fishing and overfishing, unsustainable
tourism and climate change are taking a
heavy toll and, if left unchecked, will
cause the collapse of the world’s most remarkable
coral reef ecosystem,” said Dr Lida Pet
Soede, head of WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme.
“The implications of
loss of habitat and natural resources in
the Coral Triangle are enormous in terms
of the impact on ocean life globally and
on regional livelihoods. This ‘nursery of
the seas’ supports global populations of
turtles and tuna, while 180 million people
depend on its coasts and coastal resources
for food security.”
The IUCN also lists
other Coral Triangle species at risk of
extinction, such as green turtles (Endangered),
hawksbill turtles (Critically endangered)
and scalloped hammerheads (Near threatened).
Another report released
today by the United Nation’s Environmental
Programme further emphasises the need for
greater focus on the conservation of marine
areas.
The Annual Report on
Protected Areas: A review of Global Conservation
Progress in 2007 shows that the world’s
nations are a long way off meeting their
protected area targets, and that marine
areas are especially poorly protected.
“The Coral Triangle
is the world’s centre of marine life, on
a par with the Amazon Rainforest or the
Congo Basin in terms of its importance to
life on Earth. We need to recognise that
the same level of threat exists in our oceans
as it does on the land,” said Dr Pet Soede.
WWF’s Coral Triangle
Programme has goals for 2020 of protecting
10 per cent of priority coral reefs in the
region, zero decline in sea turtle populations
from 2007 levels, and reversing the degradation
of the area’s marine resources, including
turtles, tuna and reef fish.
