SPREP Website, 28th September 2018
27 September, 2018 - The Pacific Ocean holds one quarter of the world’s coral reefs, and these reefs provide around 25 to 100 percent of the dietary protein of Pacific Islanders, as well as provide livelihoods, shoreline protection and economic opportunity in the form of tourism. They are an integral part of the life and culture of 8 million Pacific Islanders, and this is evidenced in the collection of data and analyses in the Status and Trends of Coral Reefs for the Pacific report as part of a global reporting, which was launched today by UN Environment and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia.
The report was formulated in partnership with the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI),Centre for Island Research and Environmental Observatory (CRIOBE), UN Environment and SPREP with support from the Governments of France, Sweden, and United States of America. Present were Pacific delegations attending the joint Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 6th National Report Technical Support and Preparatory Meeting for the 14th Conference of the Parties (Pre-CoP) to the CBD regional meetings, convened at SPREP Headquarters this week.
The result of a two-year long process, the report was initiated at the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) Pacific Workshop held in 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. GCRMN supports ICRI by working through a global network to strengthen the provision of best available scientific information and communication on the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems as a basis for their conservation and management. Preparation of regional periodic coral reef assessments is the main substantive activity of the GCRMN. The last region-wide report was the Status of Coral Reefs of the Pacific and Outlook: 2011, which was a synthesis account and future outlook of the state of coral reefs in the Pacific.