Over one-half
Coral
of the world's population lives
ReefTargeted Research &
within 100 kilometres
Capacity Building for Management
of the sea.
Coral Reef Targeted Research
& Capacity Building for Management
Modelling and Decision Support Working Group
Improving coral reef management
decisions through computer modelling
image: Ernesto Weil
image: Ernesto Weil
image: Ernesto Weil
Improving coral reef
And they can't be solved in one place and not
Goals
management decisions
another, because coral reefs are connected:
We are building a series of computer
Implications for Coral
through computer modelling
· By ocean currents
simulations of coral reefs to help managers

- Sewerage diverted from one reef will
make better decisions:
Reef Management
The problem
affect another.
· We are working with managers, at local,
Coral reefs ­ and the people that depend on

- Overfishing on one reef depletes its
regional and global levels, to make sure
Managers will be able to work with simulations
them ­ have a big problem:
neighbours of new baby fish.
these simulations are relevant to their
for their own area and better understand
needs.
The problem of lots of problems crashing
· By regional economic processes
the links between local, regional and global
together.

- Closing one reef to fishing shifts the
The simulations capture the way reefs work:
processes to support more meaningful
pressure to other reefs.
· How they grow under normal conditions.
decisions.
And what problems they are!
· And by global markets
· How they collapse in response to stresses
We are now working on simulations that
· Global problems like climate change and

- Industrial fishing and mass tourism
and pressures.
managers themselves can `drive' and access
mass tourism.
destroy reefs in one area and then
· And how they interact with the human
realistic scientific and economic data over the
· Regional problems like overfishing and
move on to new ones.
communities that use them.
Internet.
agricultural runoff.
· They are `flight simulators' for coral reef
· Local problems like sewerage pollution
Is there a solution?
managers.
and dredging.
A real solution to the coral reef problem must:
And, importantly, these simulations will allow
· Attack all the problems simultaneously.
managers to look at reefs locally, regionally and
These problems can't be solved one
· Understand how local problems affect
globally:
at a time
global problems and vice versa.
· So that the full effects of management
· Because while we try to solve one, the
· Understand how social and economic
decisions can become apparent
others will just get worse (e.g. a dollar
problems affect biological and physical
spent on overfishing is a dollar not spent


- That is, so that the effects of global
problems and vice versa.
on climate change).
management decisions, say to do with
· Explore the effects of different
global warming, can be related to the
· And because solving one can actually
management strategies on all problems.
effects of local management decisions,
make another worse (e.g. fixing
such as declaring an MPA.
agricultural pollution from the hinterland · Allow managers to learn and adapt.
can increase sewerage pollution from the
city by shifting populations).
More information
The University of Queensland is the
Project Executing Agency (PEA). More
information about the CRTR Program
can be obtained from the PEA:
C/O Center for Marine Studies
image: University of the Philippines
The University of Queensland
St Lucia QLD 4072
Australia
Telephone: +61 7 3365 4333
Email: info@gefcoral.org
Progress to date
The CRTR Program is a partnership
between the Global Environment
Facility, The World Bank, The
We have built and tested the fundamental `engine' to drive the simulations
University of Queensland (Australia),
· One part of this engine captures the way coral reefs work ­ the biology
the United States National Oceanic
and physics
and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and approximately 40
· The other part captures the way people use reefs ­ the economics and
research institutes and other third
sociology
parties around the world.
We are now working on simulations
The four sites or Centers of
Excellence are Southeast Asia:
· That managers themselves can `drive'
Marine Science Institute of Bolinao,
· That work at local, regional and global scales
University of the Philippines; East
Africa: Institute of Marine Sciences,
University of Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar,
Tanzania; Mesoamerica/Western
Caribbean: Unidad Academica
image: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Puerto Morelos, Universidad Nacional
Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico; and
Australasia/South Pacific: Heron
Island Research Laboratory, Centre
for Marine Studies, The University of
www.gefcoral.org
Queensland, Australia.

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