NGOs

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Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Involved with Coral Reefs

Overview

NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) operate independently of traditional government bodies and programs at the local, domestic and international level to manage, protect and restore coral reefs. Consisting of both volunteers and professional scientists/organizers, they use public and private funding to carry out a variety of programs aimed at augmenting and improving existing governmental and intern-governmental efforts. NGOs that work to conserve reefs focus primarily on Protection (preventing existing reefs from being destroyed), Rehabilitation (restoring reefs that have been damaged directly or indirectly by human activity) and Research (understanding the nature of Coral Reef ecosystems so that they may be better protected in the future), (Raney 2005, pg. 3)

Common Features

  • Public awareness: most organizations (CRA, CRMN) emphasize public education and awareness as a means of fostering support for conservation
  • Domestic vs. international: While the majority of Coral Reef NGO's are small and limited to a single biome, many pursue their goals across borders
  • Community Involvement: CRA, Reef Check and other organizations with global impact rely heavily on volunteer subgroups operating near individual reefs

Funding

NGO’s, by their nature, must rely heavily on public and private funding sources to achieve their goals. They draw monetary support from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to)

  • Government agencies (NOAA, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, etc.) in the form of grants and partnerships
  • Universities and Research Institutions
  • Donations from companies, corporations and private citizens
  • Their own fund raising efforts

Organizations

Protection

Coral Reef Alliance

Stephen Cowell founded this San Francisco based group in 1994 in an effort to educate the reef diving community about human threats to coral reefs. The organization has since grown into an international education, management and advocacy group that carries out programs in more than a dozen countries. Its board includes prominent individuals from Industry (James Tolonen, former entrepreneur, CEO and current chair), government (Elizabeth Wagner, senior IRS official), and academia (Nancy Knowlton, Smithsonian Chair for Marine Science), whom oversee a growing network of volunteers and experts across the globe. It carries out its goals via

  • Micro-grants to local groups working to protect nearby reefs
    • Promoting reef resiliency
  • Awareness programs in critical areas
  • Marine Protected Areas (flagship program)

Among the oldest and most well known, The CRA has weathered numerous management issues (Wella, 2006) and continues to expand, with sites planned in Micronesia and the Indian Ocean. Its expanding efforts in Recreational Tourism have become a model for similar efforts around the world.

Successes:

  • Belize: this former CRA site (and one of their first) saw significant result after 7 years of collaboration with reservations, resorts, newspapers and private citizens
Map of the world showing current future CRA sites

Reef Relief Founders

Formed in 1987 by a group of divers concerned about damage to Reefs in the Florida Keys brought about by the rapid expansion of tourism in the region, RRF has garnered awards at the local, state, national and international levels for its extensive cleanup and monitoring programs. A smaller organization, its members provide reports on the ecosystems and management strategies of numerous sites in the Caribbean.

Research

Operation Wallacea

'Opwall' is a research institution unaffiliated with a government or university that carries out extensive conservation management research programs in remote locales (not limited to coral reefs). Using tuition and fees from students pursuing degrees under the program, it carries out around a dozen expeditions each year to various conservation sites. Its keystone operation is a four step monitoring program:

  • 1: Assess Relative Biodiversity Value
  • 2: Monitor Ecosystem Change
  • 3: Monitor Socio-Economic Change
  • 4: Establish and monitor conservation management programs

Opwall is unique in its emphasis on engaging students at the secondary and post-secondary levels in its research efforts, and offers students interested in Coral Reefs the opportunity to promote conservation in an academic setting. The organization places great emphasis on respecting local culture and customs, providing economic benefits to the communities involved and, most importantly, providing comprehensive and relevant information to government agencies responsible for Coral Reef conservation.

Carmabi Foundation: Caribbean based (Carambi Report, pg. 15)

  • One of the very first marine research institutes (established 1957)
  • Study fringing reefs of Curacao
  • Operates Curacao Marine Park

Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network

The largest organization of its kind, the GCRMN is devoted to Strengthening understanding of coral reefs, promoting the exchange of information throughout the GCMRN network and making such information publicly available in a timely fashion (GCRMN homepage). Encompassing 17 nodes (reef regions: Australia, Central America, Eastern Caribbean, Antigua and Bermuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Antilles, West Indies, Grenada, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, East Africa, Hawaii and U.S. Pacific islands, Mesoamerica, Micronesia, East Asia, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, South Asia, Polynesia, SE Asia, SW Indian Ocean, SW Pacific, Tropical Eastern Pacific), each with its own set of contacts and experts, GCRMN works with the U.N., department of Interior and others to monitor ecological and socio-economic changes in the worlds reefs. This information is compiled into status reports that is made available to governments, research institutions and NGO's around the world.

Rehabilitation

Reef Ball Foundation: produces concrete 'Reef Balls' that serve as anchors for future reef growth

  • Various sizes to suit varied locales
  • Over 500,000 Reef Balls in 60 countries
  • Used to rehabilitate Mangrove Swamps, prevent beach erosion
Large Reef Ball with holes for coral settlement

SECORE

  • Coral breeding
  • Substrate tiles for settlement
    • Very expensive approach, up to $100 Million per hectare for extensive restoration (Zimmer, 47)
  • Acrapora restoration in Curacao (Secore foundation website)

Coral Restoration Foundation

  • Offshore nurseries for threatened coral species
    • Staghorn Coral
    • Elkhorn Coral
  • Public awareness programs

Interactive Organization

ReefBase: A Global Information System For Coral Reefs

  • GIS Interactive Map
    • A Geographic Information System (GIS) which is an interactive database that allows for users to access information about coral reefs ranging from locations, diseases-specific diseases, reefs at risk to a variety of disasters and marine protected areas.

http://reefgis.reefbase.org/

  • Digital Map Gallery
    • Provides maps that have already been created for use in building new databases.

http://www.reefbase.org/gis_maps/gallery.aspx

  • Photo Gallery
    • In this section the user can search for coral reef related images. In addition to upload images from the user to add to the existing database.

http://www.reefbase.org/resource_center/photos.aspx

See Also

Coral Reef Alliance: http://www.coral.org/ Reef Relief Founders: http://reefrelieffounders.com/

References

  • Brown, Barry. "Acropora Restoration Project Curacao." Secore Foundation. SECORE Foundation, 2009, Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
  • "Carambi Annual Report 2011" Carambi Foundation. Ed. Stokkermans, Vermeij, De Freitas, and Matthëus, 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
  • Côté, Isabelle M., and John D. Reynolds. "Status of Coral Reefs of the World: Summary of Threats and Remedial Action." Coral Reef Conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. N. pag. Print.
  • Raney, Dave. "United States Coral Reef Task Force." U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Homepage. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization, Nov. 2005. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
  • M. Tupper, M.K. Tan, S.L. Tan, M.J. Radius, S. Abdullah. ReefBase: A Global Information System on Coral Reefs [Online]. Available from: http://www.reefbase.org [Accessed: Web. March 2013.
  • Wells, Sue. "Assessing the Effectiveness of MPAs." Ed. Isabelle M. Côté and John D. Reynolds. Coral Reef Conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. N. pag. Print.
  • Zimmer, Beth. "Coral Reef Restoration: An Overview." Coral Reef Restoration Handbook. Ed. William F. Precht. Boca Raton, FL: CRC/Taylor & Francis, 2006. N. pag. Print.
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