Coral Reefs: Tourism, Conservation and Management

Bruce Prideaux,Anja Pabel

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781134986040
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecosystems & Habitats
• Index: Biological Sciences

Coral reefs are an important tourism resource for many coastal and island destinations and generate a range of benefits to their local communities, including as a food source, income from tourism, employment and recreational opportunities. However, coral reefs are under increasing threat from climate change and related impacts such as coral bleaching and ocean acidification. Other anthropogenic stresses include over-fishing, anchor damage, coastal development, agricultural run-off, sedimentation and coral mining.

This book adopts a multidisciplinary approach to review these issues as they relate to the sustainable management of coral reef tourism destinations. It incorporates coral reef science, management, conservation and tourism perspectives and takes a global perspective of coral reef tourism issues covering many of the world's most significant coral reef destinations. These include the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef in Australia, the Red Sea, Pacific Islands, South East Asia, the Maldives, the Caribbean islands, Florida Keys and Brazil. Specific issues addressed include climate change, pollution threats, fishing, island tourism, scuba diving, marine wildlife, governance, sustainability, conservation and community resilience. The book also issues a call for more thoughtful development of coral reef experiences where the ecological needs of coral reefs are placed ahead of the economic desires of the tourism industry.

1

CORAL REEF SYSTEMS AS A TOURISM RESOURCE

Anja Pabel and Bruce Prideaux

Introduction

2018 was proclaimed as the Third International Year of the Reef by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), an informal partnership between countries and organisations such as the United Nations that aims to strengthen awareness globally about the value of, and threats to, the world’s coral reefs and related ecosystems (ICRI, n.d.). This initiative highlights the interest in coral reefs but also highlights the urgent nature of the problems faced by all coral reef ecosystems. Coral reefs are renowned for their diversity of marine life, colour and beauty. Sadly, however, their use for a range of economic gain, including tourism, has in many areas resulted in their degradation and even loss. While generating an estimated USD$1 trillion per year (Hoegh-Guldberg, 2015) in value, including ecosystem services, academic investigation of coral reefs remains largely the preserve of the sciences. Understanding of the impacts of tourism on coral reef ecosystems remains limited. The aim of this chapter is to introduce a range of issues that have emerged at the intersection of tourism and coral reefs. Later chapters in this book explore many of these issues in greater detail, both thematically and geographically.

Coral reefs provide a range of benefits to their local communities including the provision of food, opportunities for recreation and, in many areas, the generation of economic opportunities through their use as a tourism resource. However, coral reefs are facing an unprecedented range of anthropogenic and natural threats that range from global to local in scale. Global anthropogenic stresses centre on climate change and its related impacts such as coral bleaching and ocean acidification. At a local level, anthropogenic stresses are caused by a range of factors, including overfishing or destructive fishing, anchor damage, coastal development, dredging, pollution and terrestrial run-off, sedimentation, coral mining (Brown & Dunne, 1988; Dubinsky & Stambler, 1996; Hodgson, 1999; Burke etal., 2002; Dinsdale & Harriott, 2004; Fabricius, 2005; Reopanichkul etal., 2009; Burke etal., 2011; Sutherland etal., 2011; McCook etal., 2015) and unsustainable use as a tourism resource. Many of these stresses can be reduced or even eliminated by appropriate controls and by human agents modifying their behaviours. Tourism use of coral reefs, however, need not pose a high level of threat if managed sustainably (Spalding etal., 2017). Unfortunately, this is not always the case as discussed in many of the following chapters in this book.

Coral reefs also face a number of natural threats, including wind storm damage (from cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons), coral diseases, discharges from river catchments and in some areas from crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) infestations. Despite these threats, coral reefs in many countries continue to be used in an unsustainable manner, either because of ignorance, greed or because of weak governance systems. While anthropogenic related factors pose the greatest threat to coral reefs in the long-term, increasing concerns about the health of coral reefs also offer the greatest hope for their long-term survival. Concerns about coral reefs expressed by individuals and community groups have galvanised a range of national and international strategies to respond to the dangers faced by coral reefs. It is against this background of growing concern about the long-term sustainability of many coral reef systems and hope that impacts can be minimised by strong public advocacy and action that this chapter discusses the role of coral reefs as a tourism resource. This chapter commences with a brief discussion on the value of coral reef systems, followed by an overview of a number of management issues, protection types and threats that effect coral reefs and how these in turn impact on the use of coral reefs as a tourism resource. The chapter concludes with discussion on the importance of community resilience of coral reef dependent destinations.

Coral reefs are unique marine ecosystems that are mainly found in warm tropical and subtropical waters, as illustrated in Figure 1.1. While covering less than 1% of the Earth’s surface (Coral Reef Alliance, 2017), they have been described as “rainforests of the sea” due to their high level of biodiversity which supports about 25% of all sea life, including sponges, worms, molluscs, crustaceans, reptiles and fish (Scott, 2014, p. 10). In terms of age, most established coral reef ecosystems are between 5,000 and 10,000 years old (Coral Reef Alliance, 2017); however, geological records indicate that the ancestors of today’s coral reefs first emerged about 240 million years ago (Coral Reef Alliance, 2017).

FIGURE 1.1 Distribution of global coral reefs

Source: NOAA National Ocean Service – Communications and Education Division: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/media/supp_coral05a.html

Coral reefs provide a variety of goods and services to humans, including social, cultural and economic benefits. Examples of social and cultural values in relation to indigenous communities are discussed in Chapter 16 in this volume. The economic benefits of coral reefs include a source of food, shoreline protection, tourism, ecosystem services and medicine. Scholars have suggested a number of methodologies that may be used to calculate the economic value of coral reefs. Brander etal. (2007), for example, suggest that coral reef systems can be valued on the basis of:

• Direct use values from recreational opportunities for diving, snorkelling and viewing.

• Indirect use values from coastal protection and habitat/nursery functions for commercial and recreational fisheries.

• Preservation values through the welfare associated with the existence of diverse natural ecosystems.

In another approach, Deloitte Access Economics (DAE) (2017) examined the economic, social and iconic values of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and found that the value to the community was AUD$56 billion, which includes the value of the reef to people who had not yet visited it. On a global basis, the value of the world’s coral reef systems is estimated to be close to USD$1 trillion per year (Hoegh-Guldberg, 2015). This figure is based on the economic value of goods and services provided by coral reefs to the 850 million people who live within 100 km of coral reefs and derive benefits from ecosystem services such as food and livelihoods, tourism, treatment for disease and shoreline protection (Burke etal., 2011). The value of coral reef ecosystems includes residential values through recreational activities such as fishing and boating, as well as tourist values through destination competitiveness achieved by promoting coral reefs (Stoeckl etal., 2014). On an annualised basis, Spalding etal. (2017) estimated that global coral reef tourism is worth USD$35.8 billion based on the total within-country expenditure by international and domestic visitors that can be assigned to the presence of coral reefs.

The human dimensions in coral reef management

Globally, multiple regional economies depend on coral reefs for a significant part of their livelihood through coral reef related activities, including tourism, recreational fishing, commercial fishing, traditional hunting by traditional owner groups and, in some areas, mining and other industrial use. As well as providing habitat and nurseries for fish and aquatic invertebrates, coral reefs also provide barriers from storms and waves to protect sea coasts and importantly help to regulate atmospheric gases (Scott, 2014). Coral reefs are estimated to contribute between 7 and 15% of the global production of calcium carbonate, which helps with carbon sequestration (Suzuki & Kawahata, 2004) and influences the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Continuing decline in the health of the world’s reefs will have significant economic as well as social repercussions for many stakeholders.

There is evidence of a shift in societal attitudes from exploitation to recognition of the need to protect natural areas in general and coral reefs in particular. Examples of this shift are discussed in Chapters 4, 9 and 10 in this volume. Societal attitudes are affected by cultural and social norms (Knez & Thorsson, 2006), economic imperatives and politics (Norris, 2000), and by external sources such as mass media (Zillmann & Vorderer, 2008). Societal attitudes influence both community and individual responses to the protection of nature, including protecting coral reef ecosystems. Local residents and tourists are fascinated by certain landscapes through a sense of place (Moskwa, 2012). These place attachments are based on emotional bonds to certain natural sites and can lead to a sense of stewardship and behavioural actions that may improve environmental practices (Moskwa, 2012).

Increasing interest in stewardship actions by many local communities indicates that a paradigm shift is taking place with increased advocatory for ecologically sustainable development, at least in some areas. Stewardship actions in this context can be described as creating awareness through environmental workshops or projects, undertaking environmental monitoring or research, and helping to restore the natural environment, i.e. through tree planting or coral restoration attempts (see Chapter 18 in this volume for examples of coral reef stewardship).

In Australia concern for the long-term well-being of the Great Barrier Reef has resulted in the growth of a strong pro-Great Barrier Reef lobby that has been successful in influencing governments to ban oil drilling, stop overfishing and reduce or prohibit large-scale dredging. Similar examples of stewardship by local communities can be found in many coral reef communities (see Chapter 18 in this volume for examples). However, in many reef-dependent communities the voice of citizens calling for an end to over-exploitation of fishing in particular, or other unsustainable uses of coral reefs including coral mining, is overshadowed by power elites concerned with short-term economic gains (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2008). Examples include destructive fishing practices (using dynamite or cyanide); unplanned coastal and tourism development where some tourist resorts have been built directly on top of reefs, with some resorts emptying their sewage or other wastes into water surrounding coral reefs; and coral mining where coral is removed from reefs to be used as bricks, road-fill or cement for new buildings.

Policymakers often find that it is challenging to integrate human dimensions into decision-making processes particularly in circumstances where power elites have yet to recognise the need for and wisdom of long-term sustainability verses short-term gains (see Chapter 9 in this volume for a discussion on long-term verses short-term use from a common pool resource perspective). This situation will only change when there is an understanding by government that citizens have genuine concerns for iconic national resources that can “promote pride, and instil a sense of individual identity and collective responsibility to protect it” (Goldberg etal., 2016). In relation to the protection of coral reefs, Goldberg etal. (2016, p. 1) stated that these iconic ecosystems play an important role in their potential to “unify seemingly disparate factions of a population around a common goal, for example, the long-term management and preservation of an internationally significant natural resource.” The premise is that understanding the underlying perceptions that people have towards specific natural environments is important for their management, including any conservation activities (McCook etal., 2010).

Goldberg etal. (2016) also made the observation that emotional connections to natural areas could be used to foster political support for resource protection. As Prideaux and Pabel (this volume) point out in Chapter 6, coral reef scientists have been very effective in tapping the high level of emotional engagement expressed by Australians towards natural areas, including the Great Barrier Reef, to gain very large ongoing funding for science related research. Prideaux and Pabel (Chapter 6) also point out that while this level of emotional attachment has resulted in substantial investment in scientific research, there has been little social science research undertaken in areas such as tourism, community resilience and social capital. Ultimately, the failure to invest in social science research is counterproductive because it is human actions that are driving the anthropogenic factors leading to coral (and other ecosystem) decline. It seems rather pointless to spend large amounts of money studying how a system is declining without devoting equal resources to help ameliorate that decline.

Research by Prideaux etal. (2018) found that in a survey of a coral reef dependent community (Cairns, Australia), the majority of respondents (75%) supported the current level of funding of coral reef management and protection, and two-thirds of respondents thought that coral bleaching will affect them on a personal level and realised that their own and others’ actions individually and nationally can affect the health of the Great Barrier Reef. However, responses to two questions that asked about personal involvement in protecting the Great Barrier Reef, indicated that respondents had yet to move from the position that it was someone else’s role to protect the reef to accepting personal responsibility for action...