The Coral Reef Task Force met at Biscayne National Park in October 1998 and formed five interagency working group subcommittees to focus on ecosystem science and conservation, mapping and information, water and air quality, coastal uses, and international protection of coral reefs. The National Park Service is actively participating in these subcommittees.
Executive Order 13089 provides an opportunity to focus attention on improving protection of the coral reefs entrusted to the National Park Service. As coral reef habitats decline, those existing in our national parks, wildlife refuges, and national marine sanctuaries become increasingly important. Nine national park system units contain coral reefs, but the ecosystems within these parks are not adequately protected. None of the system’s coral reef units prohibit all forms of fishing, and six units must allow commercial exploitation of the aquatic resources in accordance with mandated legislative provisions. Only two coral reef parks, Buck Island Reef National Monument and Virgin Islands National Park, have designated no-take zones in which all forms of resource exploitation and harvest are prohibited. Neither of these no-take zones is large enough to allow development of a completely natural, unexploited coral reef community within the protected zone. In addition to resource exploitation, all of the coral reef parks are suffering from the effects of coastal development and degraded water quality.
An increased funding initiative has been included in the President’s proposed budget for FY 2000 that will allow for increased monitoring and protection at each of the coral reef parks. Until those funds are available, the National Park Service will use existing budgets to conduct protection measures. The management plans of all coral reef parks will be reviewed and updated within the next three years; mapping and documentation of the current health of the reefs will be completed; water and air quality will be evaluated and documented; and areas are now being considered for expansion where necessary to ensure adequate ecosystem function and protection.
Photo Credit: Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, John Brooks
jim_tilmant@nps.gov
Fisheries Program Leader, Water Resources Division; Natural Resources Program Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Back to Chapter 6: New Horizons
Feral burro removal: New solutions to an old problem
by Christopher J. Stubbs
Doppler technology applied to large-river studies
by Brian L. Cluer
Natural resource information tools make their way to the web
by Jen Coffey
Congress places a positive imprint on park management
by Mike Soukup
Solicitor opinions advance park protection
by Julia Brunner and Carol McCoy
Research and collecting permit procedures revised
by Robert Winfree
Fee demonstration funds bolster natural resource protection
by Abigail Miller