The need for nature-based tourism reef monitoring and education programs
The Acropora Coral Health Program
Direct tangible benefits
Conclusion
Coral reef ecology field course

 

Nature-based tourism is one of the most rapidly expanding industry sectors worldwide and the Indo-Pacific region, with its unique and formidable natural beauty, is well situated to  partake in this market.    As the reef tourism industry within the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere expands and matures, it seems likely that the roles of both government regulatory bodies and the industry itself will change.    With the rate of expansion as it is, government agencies will be unable to manage reefs at the commercial site level.  The reef management focus may instead be on various important regional issues and threats. the identifation of special management zones and the implementation of mechanisms that enable the reef tourism industry to become increasingly self regulating and accountable through the establishment of codes of conduct and guidelines for minimal impact practices.

High-quality reef sites are popular nature-based tourism destinations. Sites with a high encounter rate of spectacular marine life such as manta rays, sharks or turtles are simply irreplacable. Any detrimental effects due to overuse, destructive fishing practices or major natural events impact not only on the reef itself, but also on the economic prosperity of the region. Increasingly strict reef management regulations will not allow operators to relocate their facilities and activities to a new area when the existing site has been affected by natural and/or unnatural environmental degradation.   This means that reef operators will be increasingly responsible for the appropiate use and preservation of their commercial sites, in order to ensure a competitive reef experience and a long-term business success.  These developments point to the necessity of reef operators to become actively involved in the management and environmental monitoring of their commercial reef sites.   This responsibility will be essential for the ecologically sustainable development of the reef tourism industry and to ensure that incompatible or destructive and illegal uses of reef resources are minimised. Systems for monitoring impact should be clearly understood by all parties affected and must not remain the sole domain of the scientific community.

An increasing number of reef operators employ well-informed and qualified staff in the marine sciences.  The industry-based reef research and education programs discussed below are an opportunity to actively involve these valuable human resources from within the marine tourism industry. The activties outlined produce cost-effective and practical results of direct relevance to the operator, and enhance the on-board interpretation available to clients.   The active involvement of interested operators in their own hands-on reef monitoring and educational projects will increase both the quality of the natural experience offered, and the overall visitor satisfaction. These factors are two of the most important measures of marketing success for the reef tourism industry.

The focus of this program is to quantify a variety of biological indicators of coral reef health by conducting fine-scale surveys of Acropora corals - the common staghorn and plate corals.  The Acroporids are the most abundant coral in the Indo-Pacific reef lagoons and thus of great aesthetic importance to reef tourism operators in this diverse marine realm.   Previous research on the Acropora group of corals have shown their relatively high sensitivity to various natural and anthropogenic environmental stresses (e.g. Glynn et al. 1992, Salvat 1992, Peters 1993, Johnstone and Kahn 1995) and are thus well suited as biological indicators of coral health.  The program uses 50x5m fine-scale surveys to obtain a 'fingerprint' of a particular commercial reef site, and produces valuable information on various coral health indicators and their effect on coral diversity and overall reef quality.  Regular coral health surveys can be applied as an early warning system, signaling natural (i.e. seasonal) and/or unnatural change at commercially important reefs.  The techniques developed to gather this useful information are very user-friendly and can be easily trained to staff with an interest in reef ecology and conservation.

 
 

Data collected during the periodical surveys include coral cover, diversity and  estimates on the abundance and distribution of specific indicators of coral health such as:    Acropora coral malformations  Coral diseases: Black-banding disease  White-banding disease  Outbreak coral predators:    Drupella snail    Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci)  Unidentified feeding scars  Macro-algae abundance  Coral bleaching  Recent coral breakages natural causes tourism impacts destructive fishing practices  It is of major importance to understand the ecological conditions that favour coral reef stress.  This information is needed to assess which levels of coral stress are naturally occurring on a pristine 'healthy' reef system and to what extend coral reefs are affected by specific human activities.

The information obtained is of direct relevance to reef management and conservation programs,  as it gives valuable seasonal and long-term data on the environmental quality of the reefs surveyed periodically and increases the involvement of, and information exchange with, an important conservation-oriented reef user group.

In addition,  tourism-based reef monitoring and education programs are effective because:

• Staff not already well-educated in general reef  biology can be trained relatively quickly
• The transport costs to the reef sites of interest are minimal
• The site is usually easily accessible and well-known
• No specialised equipment is required and
• All the field work can be done by the operation's own staff, mostly during the day's regular activities.

The Acropora Coral Health Program, as well as our Eye on the Reef Program currently implemented by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, were specifically designed to allow for the active involvement of volunteers while maintaining data quality.  In addition, both programs have an extensive educational component. The field methods for these programs have been developed in consultation with various Australian marine science and management institutes, reef user groups and indigenous communities and are compatible with ASEAN - Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources (1994).  The initial hands-on reef monitoring training activities are complimented by numerous specialised workshops.  The workshops are conducted during several evenings in an informal setting.  Workshops are illustrated with high quality slides, videos and case studies relating to:   General reef ecology;  Natural and human impacts on coral reefs;  Indicators of environmental health;  Commercial, recreational and indigenous reef usage;  Medicinal uses of reef resources;  Rapid ecological reef assessments and conservation challenges.

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I)  Commercial site preservation	Long-term monitoring of aesthetically important Acropora corals at commercially important sites. Monitor seasonal changes on reef sites.  Early warning signal for outbreaks of coral predators and the excessive abundance of various coral diseases. Information on sustainable development use levels in the future. Minimises incompatible or destructive and illegal uses of reef resources. Positive results on coral recovery after natural disturbances.
II)   Instant  reporting and access to data and recommendations by tourism  management
III)   High training  potential	Eye on the Reef Program - Local & regional reef tourism industry training and awareness.  Acropora Coral Health Program - remote reef monitoring and awareness.  The Acropora Coral Health Research and Monitoring Program would be especially valuable when implemented complimentary to existing programs that seek to improve the sustainable use and of marine resources in developing countries.  The methodology involved is robust, low-tech and easily trainable to local communities and thus well suited to be implemented at remote sites.
IV)   Product enhancement	On-board interest and research in reef ecology Increased environmental awareness and  Accurate and up-to-date information for client ecucational and interpretation programs.
V)   An integrated approach to reef management that links  reef science to the reef tourism industry.
VI) Various monitoring intensities depending on funds allocated.
VIII)  Additional marketing avenues.

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Both the Acropora Coral Health and the Eye on the Reef Monitoring Programs facilitate a way in which the reef's (eco)tourism industry can participate directly in innovative reef monitoring and education programs.  The data, although collected by non-scientists and partly anecdotal, produces useful results in base-line and seasonal occurrences of the targeted wildlife and environmental perturbations occurring on commercially important reef sites.  Any areas of special scientific or management interest can then be further investigated by management authorities.  In addition, the programs result in an increased interest and overall awareness of the reef tourism industry in its working environment, and are of great benefit to the operator's activities, marketing approach and clientele satisfaction.

References

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