Save the coral reefs
On the occasion of the 3rd International Year of Coral Reefs (IYOR2018), the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco co-organised a symposium at the Maison des Océans in Paris. The workshop focused on the latest knowledge and research on these environments and on solutions to try to halt their decline.
This symposium, which took place on 20 June 2018, was organised by the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB), the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, CRIOBE, the Platform Ocean and Climate (POC) and the French Initiative for Coral Reefs (IFRECOR).
Status report, pressures and threats
Its preliminary objective was to take stock of the services provided by corals and their ecosystems, their state of health and the threats they face. It then continued with two round tables bringing together scientists, managers and civil society actors around two major themes. On the one hand, how to mobilize and adapt governance to implement new tools for better protection of spaces and species. On the other hand, to exchange on the latest scientific knowledge concerning the functioning of coral reefs and innovative management solutions to develop them on a larger scale.
Everybody’s business?
New tools are needed to better protect areas and species and to limit anthropic pressures. Effective reef protection cannot be achieved through a unilateral approach and should involve as many stakeholders and sectors as possible in protection and governance choices. What perceptions do local communities have of the services provided by coral reefs? The place they occupy in their daily lives? On this basis, how can they be mobilized and involved more widely in decision-making? What financial tools should be developed to guarantee the viability and sustainability of conservation and protection policies?
Organising the fight
The pressures and threats to coral reefs are such that their continued existence on the planet is at stake. Nevertheless, there is still time to act. Scientific advances have revealed hitherto unknown adaptation mechanisms in certain coral strains, and various stakeholders are seizing on these results and mobilizing to ensure the sustainability of reefs.
