Kenchington

Reducing impacts of coastal land use on coral reefs: 

Reducing impacts of coastal land use on coral reefs

Reducing impacts of coastal land use on coral reefs: 

Reducing impacts of coastal land use on coral reefs Richard Kenchington Board Chair International Coral Reef Action Network PO Box 588 JAMISON, ACT 2614 AUSTRALIA richard.kenchington@netspeed.com.au

Corals: 

Corals thrive in clear, nutrient poor waters Shallow Close to people Stressful are resilient

Intact coastal areas: 

Intact coastal areas Woodlands, grasslands, wetlands, winding rivers Absorb rainfall Cushion run-off Slow water flows Trap nutrients Important but often seasonal inputs

Types of land use: 

Types of land use Agricultural cropping Pasture and grazing Water harvest, drainage and flood mitigation Industrial sites Transport infrastructure Urban and residential

Consequences of land use 1: 

Consequences of land use 1 Changing drainage and water flow patterns Reduced flow volumes and increased flow speeds through water harvesting and flood control

Consequences of land use 2: 

Consequences of land use 2 Pollution of water with: silts from exposed soils agricultural chemicals manure leachates from solid waste fills industrial wastes and by-products urban wastes and by-products sewage – particularly nutrients urban and road system storm runoff

Consequences of land use 3: 

Consequences of land use 3 Changing demand for access to coastal resources and recreation Urban concentrations lead to increased demand for recreation, scenic amenity, fishing and boating

Benefits, Costs, and liabilities of land uses: 

Benefits, Costs, and liabilities of land uses The benefits obvious but they have inescapable costs reduction in natural capital loss or and damage to natural productivity, environment, amenity or human health investment to maintain natural capital design and implementation of technological solutions to remove or minimise impacts

Benefits and costs may be widely separated: 

Benefits and costs may be widely separated The resource, amenity and environment costs may accrue far from the location and long after the upstream primary benefit. If so the people who benefit are not the people whose natural capital is eroded

The costs are often delayed, cumulative and masked . : 

The costs are often delayed, cumulative and masked . An impact can move gradually or suddenly from sustainable to unsustainable levels through increase of a single use, changes in technology of use combinations of otherwise unrelated uses natural catastrophe the unexpected

How can we reduce the impacts of land use on coral reefs?: 

How can we reduce the impacts of land use on coral reefs? Impact reduction technologies exist It is possible to manage and greatly reduce most of the coastal and marine impacts of land use

What is holding back impact reduction? : 

What is holding back impact reduction? Lack of acceptance of the need to pay to maintain natural capital through product price, through financial and legal constraints on damaging uses and technologies through commercial or government charges

What is holding back impact reduction?: 

What is holding back impact reduction? Sectoral fence minding cultural, jurisdictional, institutional, economic, and commercial traditions. The cultural tradition of passing problems downstream enshrined in the engineers mantra “The solution to pollution is dilution”

What can we do right now for coral reefs? 1: 

What can we do right now for coral reefs? 1 Educate and develop community awareness the beauty, richness and complexity of coral reefs and related ecosystems illustrate the issues of interconnectedness

What can we do right now for coral reefs? 2: 

What can we do right now for coral reefs? 2 Focus on managing natural capital coral reefs are the most “accessible” part of the marine ecosystem

What can we do right now for coral reefs?3: 

What can we do right now for coral reefs?3 Take Action through communities, governments, NGOs and the international community through the US Coral Reef Initiative, International Coral Reef Initiative, and the International Coral reef Action Network

Thank You: 

Thank You