In the seas, conservation is proven to be economically beneficial. Marine reserve protection will pay for itself if designed properly. In marine reserves, fish live longer, grow larger and can replenish surrounding fisheries. Five years after setting up a network of marine reserves around the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, for instance, fish catches had nearly doubled, Roberts said.
In addition to the correlation with terrestrial biodiversity hotspots, the paper notes that tropical reef ecosystems include wilderness areas, which remain far less impacted by people, are rich in species, and relative to degraded areas, still contain abundant populations of reef species such as sharks that quickly disappear from overexploited reefs. These include places such as New Guinea, a terrestrial tropical wilderness area that also has coral reefs in near pristine condition relative to other parts of the world. The study recommends that conservation efforts extend to both the coral reef hotspots and these wilderness areas.
A senior lecturer with the University of York in England, Roberts was a fellow with CABS when the study was performed. Co-authors include four CABS scientists: Timothy B. Werner; Gerald R. Allen; Cristina G. Mittermeier, and Carly Vynne. The other co-authors were Colin J. McClean, with the University of York; John E.N. Veron, with the Australian Institute of Marine Science; Julie P. Hawkins, with the University of York; Don E. McAllister, now deceased, of Ocean Voice International; Frederick W. Schueler, with Eastern Ontario Biodiversity Museum; Mark Spalding, with UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre; and Fred Wells, with the Western Australian Museum.
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Contact: Brad Phillips
b.phillips@conservation.org
202-912-1532
Conservation International
14-Feb-2002