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The coral reef deserves our attention

Reef Check, an international organization dedicated to coral reef conservation, issued an online petition called Reef Check Declaration of Reef Rights, which received strong support. In just three days, Taiwanese reef lovers joined the cause, catapulting Taiwan to No. 2 on the list of signatories between the first-place US and third-place Malaysia.

But even as Taiwanese throw their support behind this noble cause, I've seen a newspaper report that said: "Stop wasting energy focusing all attention on how humans have destroyed coral reefs. Finding a way to artificially mass reproduce wild shallow-water coral reefs is the key to saving coral ecology in Taiwanese waters."

I must ask why focusing attention on human destruction is a waste of energy. And can humans really mass reproduce wild coral and save Taiwan's coral ecology?

First, just as the reality of global warming is threatening the world climate, coral reefs are facing an unprecedented crisis. As the Reef Check Web site says, we have already lost 15 percent of the world's coral and 30 percent is directly in danger of destruction because of human activities. If we weren't able to halt or slow this decline, more than 200 million people living on Pacific islands would have their livelihoods affected.

The petition states that all coral reefs have the right to be free from destruction from over-fishing, pollution, artificial coral bleaching, ocean acidification, and damage due to poorly planned coastal development. The organization hopes 1 million people will sign the declaration, and, when the International Year of the Reef begins next year, to use those signatures to appeal to all reef countries to protect their reefs.

Is it really a waste of energy for Taiwan, whose diverse coral ecology should be a source of national pride, to work with the rest of the world to eliminate human activities that destroy coral habitats?

Wild shallow-water reefs and reef-building coral are an important part of the tropical and sub-tropical coral reef ecosystem. This kind of ecosystem has existed on earth for more than 250 million years. But coral-building reefs grow very slowly, whether by sexuallor asexual reproduction. The fastest, acropora coral, grows at 20cm per year, while the slowest, porites corals, grows at just 3mm per year.

Moreover, coral reefs require other living organisms in addition to the coral. These include fish, shrimp, shellfish, seaweed and other micro-organisms invisible to the naked eye, all of which make for a complex system. In addition, coral reefs normally develop in clear-water areas free from land pollution.

The waters surrounding Taiwan have long since become overused and polluted. Even if we can mass reproduce reef-building coral, how could we give it a place to survive?

The only purpose for breeding coral is so that it can be used for commercial purpose in aquariums in place of harvested wild coral. There are simply no scientific reports proving that mass reproduction of reef-making coral can save coral ecosystems. If this were really possible, where is all the coral that has been transplanted on to man-made reefs? If this technology really existed in Taiwan, how is it saving the coral reefs? Where is the data? Why hasn't it been published in an international academic journal to be tested by peer review? All of this needs to be explained through scientific testing. Otherwise it is but fake science.

In 1997, Taiwanese academics established the Taiwanese Coral Reef Society, and in 1998 began participating in Reef Check activities. In 1999, Taiwan experienced the largest reef-bleaching incident in history, leading to the destruction of much of the coral reefs in Taiwan's surrounding waters. But with great efforts over the last decade, Taiwanese society has gradually come to understand coral ecology's importance to Taiwan's marine environment.

The establishment of Dongsha Marine National Park this year symbolizes our gradual movement into an era of respecting the ocean and protecting coral reefs. Just as concern over global warming has encouraged people to ride bicycles to work, efforts like these are anything but a waste of energy.

Allen Chen is an assistant research fellow in the Institute of Zoology at the Academia Sinica.

Translated by Marc Langer
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