Are Coral Reefs Disappearing Forever?
By: Ayla Kanber
Tags: Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Coral Reefs, Nature, Urban Planning

“Why should we care about coral reefs in the first place?”

1. Food

Half a billion people are estimated to live within 100 kilometers of a coral reef, which means that many people depend on them to provide marine life habitats for food production. Due to coral reef decline, many countries are suffering because their main source of food production has atrophied greatly.

A fishing village in Indonesia called Seraya Besar was forced to manually restore their coral reefs in order to provide themselves with food. While this particular village was able to restore the reef, there are other poorer regions that depend on reefs for food who may not have enough resources or external support to carry out this type of extensive reef-restoration process.

Fishing Village in Seraya Besar restores local coral reefs successfully. (https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/06/14/how-a-remote-indonesian-island-community-is-reclaiming-its-fishing-heritage-by-restoring-ruined-coral-reefs/)

2. Drugs

Coral reefs are called the “medicine chests of the sea” because there are chemical compounds found in reef species used in pharmaceuticals.

The marine sponge used as an antiviral agent for treatment of HIV and HSV. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2992996/)

Scientists have already used chemicals in reef plants and animals to develop treatments for ulcers, lymphoma, skin cancer, leukemia, cardiovascular diseases and other ailments. Isn’t that amazing!?

For example, scientists extracted the nucleoside vidarabine from the marine sponge tethya crypta found in Caribbean Sea reefs; this chemical is now used as an antiviral agent for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV).

3. Ecosystem Services

Not only do coral reefs provide food and medicine, they provide environmental services like water purification, air purification, carbon and nitrogen fixing, and coastal protection. The 2018 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report estimates that nearly 200 million people depend on coral reefs for protection from storm surges and waves.

Sumatra coast after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Sumatra coast was badly affected. However, the healthy reefs on this coast prevented even more damage and destruction. A scientific model estimates that healthy reefs offer coastlines at least twice as much protection as dead reefs. This is because healthy reefs have rougher surfaces that slow waves with friction before they reach the coast.

4. Economic/Commercial Benefits

At least 76% of the world’s coral species are concentrated in the Coral Triangle, which spans over Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. This region has more coral fish diversity than anywhere else in the world, making the Coral Triangle a center for economic opportunities.

(http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/coraltriangle/coraltrianglefacts/)

Overall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that coral reefs provide goods and services up to USD $375 billion a year through fisheries, coastal protection, tourism development and pharmaceuticals.

At this point, hopefully you’re thinking “Oh, I should definitely care. So what the heck is happening with coral reefs that’s making them disappear?”