WorldFish's ReefBase (www.reefbase.org) is the largest repository of information on coral reefs. The website is a dynamic resource of quality information on the location, status, threats and management of coral reefs in nearly 100 countries and territories, and is thus a valuable tool for managers, policy makers, researchers , conservators, educators and students.
ReefBase, who dedicated staff and resources, has been developed in collaboration with the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). The first online version was launched in April 2002. A new and more powerful version came onstream in August 2003, providing better access to more information.
ICRAN is a global partnership of coral reefs, experts working to halt and reverse the decline of coral reefs in the world. It was launched in 2000 with funding from the United Nations Foundation. WorldFish is an important partner in this initiative.
ReefBase is the central repository for the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. This impressive collaboration brings together people, governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations monitoring of coral reefs and communities who depend on them in more than 80 countries. GCRMN is jointly organized by WorldFish and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the World Bank and the United Nations Program on the environment are among its sponsors.
Since it was online in 2002, ReefBase has developed an easy-to-use geographic information system (GIS) that allows users to visualize data on coral reefs, the state of the art cards interactive. This includes information on marine protected areas and monitoring sites.
Coral bleaching continues to rise due to a warming of waters. ReefBase is developing extensive information on bleaching events in collaboration with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The information is combined with GIS in the monthly update maps of ocean temperatures around the world, providing an early warning system for this terrible phenomenon.
A good understanding of the communities and how they use coastal resources is essential for effective management. ReefBase will also work closely with NOAA to develop important socio-economic information to help managers identify potential problems and best management strategies. Currently, this information is limited and poorly organized.
Partnerships have been developed with the Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean and the Reef Check project to enhance information sharing with monitoring programs in the world.
ReefBase has also contributed to the rehabilitation Coral Reef and Management Project (COREMAP) to develop a GIS web-based in Indonesia, which has the largest coral reef in the world. This is part of efforts to help local managers and scientists and develop management systems databases. COREMAP is partly funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
For the future, ReefBase preparing thematic CD-ROM on coral reefs, and a coral reef regional information system for the Pacific, based in the WorldFish office in New Caledonia (Pacific ReefBase) is planned for 2005 .
ReefBase is an important part of the WorldFish strategy aimed at improving management of coral reefs and in a secure manner, and to support the livelihood of the poor who depend on them.
Coral reefs can provide food, income, coastal protection and building materials. Some 500 million people who live in the tropics have some dependence on reefs. Reefs have been estimated to provide the world with US $ 375 billion in goods and services.
In addition, up to 50 percent of chemicals for new medicines from the sea, many of whom come from reef organisms. They could be a goldmine for new chemicals and new medicines powerful, given the richness of life on the reefs, and the fact that the species have evolved several tricks to survive the rigors of the marine environment.
Many invertebrate animals that produce chemicals that make them bad taste or toxic to predators. These compounds can be very attractive to pharmaceutical companies. Tropical forests, reefs rival in their biodiversity. Because about 90 percent of the species are not known, there is a very high probability that there are untapped resources biomedical.
But the economic and other benefits of these resources are being depleted due to the degradation of reefs. The world's coastal zone is the most insisted on the planet, and the majority of the world's reefs are under imminent threat. In Southeast Asia alone, which represents more than 30 percent of the world's reefs, about 88 percent of all reefs are in danger.
The main causes of degradation of coral reefs are over-fishing, pollution, excessive sediment of deforestation, mining rock and bleaching due to global warming.
Source:
http://www.worldfishcenter.org
