More than 500 scientists, government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGO) from 39 nations gathered on Sunday in Kenting Township (墾丁), Pingtung County, for the third Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium to seek solutions to the threats posed to the world’s coral reef systems.
The five-day seminar, hosted by the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, focuses on the imminent threat brought to coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region — which accounts for nearly 30 percent of the global coral reef mass — by overfishing, marine pollution and overdevelopment of marine habitats.
According to the museum, Taiwan’s coral reef system generates an annual income of NT$72 billion (US$2.4 billion) from fishing and a further NT$8 billion from tourism.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien
Aside from large-scale whitening of coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region due to human activity, the reefs are also under threat from ocean warming and high acidic content in seawaters, the museum said.
This year’s symposium features talks by 10 senior coral reef scientists in the region, and more than 300 dissertations, under the theme “Challenges of Asia-Pacific Coral Reefs under the Changing Ocean,” the museum said.
The first seminar was held in Hong Kong in 2006, as Asia-Pacific nations gathered to develop a sustainable model for coral reef conservation.
The theme that year was “Coral Reefs: Cooperation and Collaboration for Better Conservation.”
The second seminar was held on Phuket in Thailand, in 2010, under the theme “Collaboration for Coral Reef Conservation in a Changing Climate.”
The sharp increase in the number of participants shows the significance that the forum has brought to coral reef workers in the region, the museum said.
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