Coral Triangle

• Category: Marine and Oceanic Biomes.
• Geographic Location: Asia.
• Summary: The biologically rich and expansive Coral Triangle is threatened by climate change and human activity. Conservation programs are in place to study the reefs and educate the local population on ways to preserve and safeguard the area's natural resources.

The Coral Triangle is a large marine habitat area in southeast Asia. The roughly triangular area of 2.3 million square miles (6 million square kilometers) covered by the Coral Triangle encompasses the national waters of six countries: Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste.

The Coral Triangle is a true nursery of the seas, containing more than 600 coral species, or about 75 percent of all coral species in the world; six of the seven sea-turtle species found in the ocean; and more than 2,200 species of fish, or about one-third of the world's known coral-reef fish species. At least 15 of the corals in this biome have been identified as endemic, meaning they exist nowhere else on Earth. The epicenter of coral diversity here, with 553 species, is the Raja Ampat region near Bird's Head Peninsula in the West Papua province of Indonesia.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly the World Wildlife Fund), the reefs of the Coral Triangle sustain more than 120 million people, who depend directly on the reef's resources for food and income. Millions more throughout the world also benefit from the Coral Triangle.

Environmental Threats

The local threats are mainly pollution from coastal development and poor sewage treatment infrastructure; overfishing, especially of species that play critical roles in the ecosystem; destructive fishing methods such as cyanide poisoning and dynamite blast fishing, which kill corals and destroy habitat, lowering the productivity of the reef and its resources over time; and bycatch, which is the unintended catching of sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, seabirds, and the like in the context of long-line fishing for tuna. Many of the local threats persist due to high poverty levels, poor resource-management practices, and lack of political will, combined with high market demand outside the region for many of the area's reef and open-ocean fish.

The growing live-fish trade for restaurants in Asia and aquariums around the world is driving a dramatic increase in fishing efforts in the Coral Triangle, which has led to declines in many ecologically important fish species. These are the same species of fish that the local subsistence, artisanal fishers also consume for food. In addition, the Coral Triangle has immense areas for spawning and juvenile tuna, so the region harbors what is perhaps the largest tuna fishery in the world—one of the single most significant economic drivers in the area. Heavily fished tuna species in the region include southern bluefin, big-eye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack. While a tremendous economy has been fueled by commercial fishing and tourism, the Coral Triangle's fish stocks are declining dangerously and are in need of effective management.

Population growth and continued reef resource exploitation can significantly weaken not only the health of the marine ecosystem, but also the food security in the region. Well over 100 million people depend on the reef for food. The resources need to be cared for to preserve them for future generations in order that a food crisis may be averted.

Effects of Climate Change

The reefs of the Coral Triangle also are subject to global threats, just like all other reefs around the world. The rising global demand for reef-derived fish is accompanied by rising ocean temperatures and acidity levels. The unprecedented rates of the global rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is leading to fast rates of ocean warming and acidification. These climate-change factors can severely undermine the ability of coral reefs to grow, reproduce, and continue to act as hubs of marine life.

When sea-surface temperatures warm the local corals above usual highs and remain at that level for several months, severe coral bleaching and die-offs can occur. During coral bleaching, the corals expel from their tissues tiny photosynthetic organisms, zooxanthellate algae, that contribute significantly to bringing food and energy to the coral animal. These algae, living inside the coral, also impart colors to the outside of the corals. The reefs in the Coral Triangle are already living close to the thermal edge of what scientists have measured. If the waters continue to warm, the corals—the engineers of the whole bountiful ecosystem—will continue to be threatened.

Temperatures are rising just as levels of ocean acidity are increasing. Unfortunately, acidification adds stress to corals and other organisms on the reefs that make their shells out of calcium carbonate. The lower the pH (higher the acidity) of the seawater, the weaker corals and other calcifying organisms are in building their skeletons. Eventually, flimsy skeletons make for a more fragile overall habitat and a less productive ecosystem, which in turn could lead to fewer and smaller fish, lower fish catches, and less food, trade, and tourism.

By the end of the twenty-first century, the Coral Triangle is expected to experience some of the fastest rates and greatest amounts of acidification in the world. Continued scientific studies of the area exposed to the hottest temperatures and highest acidity levels will shed light on which communities are most vulnerable to deterioration and those that could be the most resilient. Such information can be used to design conservation strategies and efforts that are more robust and likely to resist the effects of climate change.

Conservation Efforts

To inspire environmental stewardship of the local and regional reefs, many conservation organizations have developed strong, active programs that include working with local communities to sustain healthy reefs without compromising the human needs of food, tourism, and recreation.

For example, environmental education programs aimed at raising awareness for ocean stewardship have been an important focus in Raja Ampat, in West Papua, Indonesia. There, Conservation International maintains an educational sailing ship, Kalabia, that travels to approximately 100 coastal villages in the region every year to educate children about the importance of the reefs on which their communities depend. On another level, the World Wide Fund for Nature and The Nature Conservancy work with the six nations of the Coral Triangle to eliminate illegal and destructive fishing and to develop successful joint programs that focus on protection of the shared waters and reef resources. Also, many small community conservation organizations continue to work tirelessly with governmental bodies toward greater protection of these unique and valuable marine resources. Experts stress the need for co-management practices in combination with conservation. Co-management involves local communities in conservation, which reduces disconnect and prevents further degradation.

On land, there has been significant success for conservation, with wilderness areas set aside to preserve and to safeguard the resources. The Coral Triangle is now a top priority for marine conservationists because it is one of the most beautiful, biologically productive—and threatened—areas on the planet.

Bibliography

Al-Asif, Abdulla, et al. "Status, biodiversity, and ecosystem services of seagrass habitats within the Coral Triangle in the Western Pacific Ocean." Ocean Science Journal vol. 57, no. 2, 2022, 147-73, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12601-022-00068-w. Accessed 1 Dec 2024.

Carpenter, Kent E., et al. “One-Third of Reef-Building Corals Face Elevated Extinction Risk From Climate Change and Local Impacts.” Science 321, no. 1 (2008).

Heck, Sarah A. "Ocean Governance in the Coral Triangle: A Multi-Level Regulatory Governance Structure." Politics and Governance, vol. 10, no. 3, 14 Jul. 2022, doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i3.5362. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Veron, J., et al. “Delineating the Coral Triangle.” Galaxea, Journal of Coral Reef Studies 11, no. 1 (2009).