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Hawai'i will officially join in the International Year of the Reef Friday Jan 25 at the State Capitol with over 40 groups, a proclomation by the govenor, and a special presentation by Naino Thompson. Numerous festivals and educational events are planned throughout the year in Hawaii to bring attention about the importance of reef health.
Hawaii's coral reefs, providing ecosystem services valued at US$10 billion, are under increasing pressure from the islands' growing population (1.2 million residents) and thriving tourism industry (11 million tourists per year).
As corals disappear, the impact on humans is not likely to be subtle. Coral reefs, which cover less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, are the principal habitat for 25 percent of the ocean's species, from spiny lobsters and sea urchins to important food sources such as groupers and snappers. Many other marine creatures use reefs as nurseries or feeding grounds. And both people and wildlife benefit from the protection they provide against storm surges and tsunamis. Globally, coral reefs are estimated to contribute more than $30 billion a year in direct net benefits to human economies.
Coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystem in the ocean, but they are in crisis. Reefs are experiencing declines in many species of fish, coral, invertebrates and algae due to land-based pollution, over-fishing, non-native species, climate change and coral disease. It is essential that coral reefs be restored because they provide income, food for humans and marine life, critical habitat for marine species, protection of shorelines, and potential medicinal cures, event organizers said.
Urban areas, popular tourist destinations have suffered from land-based sources of pollution, erosian, coastal construction, overfishing or poor fishing techniques including dynamite, commercial bottom trawling and as well recreational overuse, and alien species and marine water warming which causes coral bleaching in tropical waters. Despite these human stressors, many of Hawaii's coral reefs, particularly the remote archepilago ones, are still in good condition.
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