The Wider Caribbean (hereafter called the Caribbean) is a large marine realm encompassing the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and part of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean extending out to the tiny island of Bermuda. (See Map 1. The Caribbean Region) Richly endowed with biological treasures, it is also a region of tremendous cultural and political diversity shaped by a vivid history. The wide coastal shelves and warm tropical waters create ideal conditions for the formation of an estimated 26,000 square kilometers (sq km) of coral reefs. [1] Separated from other coral reefs, these have evolved in isolation, and remarkably few of the many thousands of species in these waters are found anywhere else in the world.[2]

More than 116 million people live within 100 km of the Caribbean coast (see Appendix A: Physical, Social, and Economic Statistics for the Caribbean Region, Table A3: Population of the Wider Caribbean), and many livelihoods depend strongly on the marine environment. Coral reefs contribute significantly to nutrition and employment, particularly in rural areas and among island communities, where there may be few employment alternatives. The reefs are also a major draw for tourists to the region. Coral reefs provide shoreline protection, notably during storms and hurricanes, and generate white sand for many beaches. The biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems has enormous value as a provider of potentially life-saving pharmaceuticals.

Despite their value, coral reefs in the Caribbean are under threat. [3] Growing coastal populations and rising tourist numbers exert increasing pressure. Land-based activities, including construction, deforestation, and poor agricultural practices, are depositing an increasing load of sediment and nutrients in coastal waters, smothering some corals and contributing to overgrowth by algae. Current levels of fishing pressure are unsustainable in most areas and have already led to species loss and the collapse and closure of fisheries in some countries. [4] Increasing pressures are undermining the resilience of reefs to threats from global climate change.[5] In addition, extensive areas of corals have succumbed to diseases in recent years. The origins of these diseases remain poorly understood, but corals across the region are susceptible. [6]

Understanding the effects of human activities on specific reefs, including the economic consequences of these disturbances, is key to future conservation and planning efforts. Within the region numerous studies are underway to assess and monitor particular coral reefs (see Appendix C: Information Activities in teh Caribbean for details). In a few places, such as Jamaica and the Florida Keys, changes in coral condition are well documented, but in most other places, the availability of detailed information is limited, inhibiting effective management.

About the Project

The Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project was initiated to improve coral reef management by giving resource managers and policymakers specific information and tools to help manage coastal habitats more effectively. The project is designed to raise awareness about the nature and extent of the threats facing the region’s coral reefs and to draw attention to the considerable value of these resources.

Achieving these aims by building up new information from surveys and monitoring would be prohibitively expensive. Rather, the project focuses on compiling existing information from a broad range of sources and putting this information together in a standardized, regionally consistent format. Some of this information relates directly to coral reefs, such as the locations of the reefs themselves. However, the project also entails gathering information on other natural and human features that can be developed into proxy measures, or indicators, of human threats to reefs. In addition, the project brings together social and economic data on the region, supporting an analysis of the economic value of the region’s coral reefs and underpinning a series of policy and management recommendations.

The indicators developed by the Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project enable detailed comparative analyses of threats to coral reefs on many scales. The Reefs at Risk indicators are a simplification of human activities and complex natural processes. The approach and methodology used to create the indicators, and their limitations, are described in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we examine in detail the main categories of threat to coral reefs, discuss the effects of these threats, and suggest remedies for mitigating threats. Chapter 4 explores reef status and threats in nine sub-regions of the Caribbean. Chapter 5 offers an estimation of the economic value of three key goods and services provided by Caribbean coral reefs—fish catch from reef fisheries, dive tourism, and shoreline protection services—and presents an evaluation of economic losses that could result as coral reefs degrade. Finally, Chapter 6 formulates broad management and policy recommendations based on the findings of the analysis.

Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean is part of a series that began with a global analysis, Reefs at Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the World’s Coral Reefs, released in 1998. [7] Subsequently, region-specific projects have refined the original model, have incorporated a much higher-resolution analysis, and have provided an improved tool for analyzing the impacts of human activities on reefs. The first in the regional analysis series, Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia, was released in 2002. The Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project, a two-year collaborative effort involving more than 20 partner institutions, has compiled and integrated far more information than can be presented in this report. More detailed information, including all maps and statistics, country-level results, and details of the analytic methods are available at http://reefsatrisk.wri.org/ and on the accompanying Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean data CD.

Notes

1. Previous estimates of Caribbean coral reef area have ranged from 20,000 to 30,000 sq km. See Appendix A, Table A1 for comparison by country and Appendix B for sources for coral reef map and reeef are estimates.

2. M.D. Spalding, Guide to the Coral Reefs of the Caribbean (Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2004).

3. T.A. Gardner et al. 2003. "Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs." Science 301:929-933.

4. Spalding (2004).

5. T.P. Hughes et al 2003. "Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs." Science 301:929-933.

6. E.P. Green and A.W. Bruckner. 2000. "The Significance of Coral Disease Epizootiology for Coral Reef Conservation." Biological Conservation 96:347-461.

7. D.L. Bryant et al. Reefs At Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threat to the World's Coral Reefs. (Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute, 1998).