Help for Coral Reefs

Coral reefs were the central focus of the inaugural conference of the GDRI, the International Research Group, which ran between the 1 and the 3rd of September. Organised by the Monaco Scientific Centre, the conference was funded by the CNRS and supported by the Prince’s Government. To mark the opening of the conference, after the welcome message delivered by Robert Calcagno, Director General of the Oceanographic Institute Foundation Albert I and Oceanographic Museum, Prince Albert II made the following declaration: “Coral reefs illustrate perfectly the concept of biodiversity, as they contain more than 30% of all marine life in a fraction of the ocean’s surface area (0.2%).

From the perspective of sustainable development, nature cannot be dissociated from human rights and reefs are example of how these issues are interlinked. Indeed, the lives of half a billion people in more than one hundred countries depend on it.” The objectives of GDRI "Biodiversity of Coral Reefs" are to promote collaboration between key centres of coral reef research across the world to conduct interdisciplinary research on the relationship between man and ecosystem, and to describe and analyse coral reef biodiversity from the level of the community to the molecule in order to understand the potential for adaptation of these fragile ecosystems to environment disturbances and also to predict the effects of global change. The conference reflects the wishes of Prince Albert II and Principality Government to take an active part in protecting fragile coral reef ecosystems, tropical, polar or Mediterranean.

Coral reefs are considered oases of life in the open ocean. They precipitate almost half of the limestone surface of the globe, playing an essential role in the carbon cycle. However, these ecosystems are highly threatened: wide spread mortality has occurred in the Mediterranean and bleaching in tropical environments, caused by an increase of 2 to 3 degrees above normal seawater temperatures. This causes disruption of the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae, causing the paling of the coral tissues, hence the name “bleaching”. Currently, 16% of coral reefs have been eliminated by mass bleaching in 1998, which caused the death of some coral colonies of more than 1000 years old. If mass bleaching events continue, 40 to 60% of reefs could disappear during the next 50 years.

The Principality of Monaco is linked to the secretariat of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) held by France and Samoa since July 1. Created in 1994 by eight countries (France, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Jamaica, Philippines and Sweden), ICRI has been a source of scientific measures and civil action to protect coral reefs and associated ecosystems. The ICRI is a public - private initiative unique in bringing together governments, international organizations, scientific entities, and non-governmental organizations committed to reversing the degradation of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses around the world. To do this, ICRI encourages conservation and sustainable exploitation of these resources for generations ahead. The next meeting of the ICRI is also held at the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco in January 2010.

Several major projects were discussed at the GDRI meeting. CSM will participate in the development of a molecular method to assess the health of reefs, together with groups in Australia, Israel and a laboratory of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle linked to the CNRS. It will also launch an assessment of the economic value of reefs taking into account not only the assets derived directly from reefs but also the rich socio-cultural issues associated with reef environments.

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