NOAA
RELEASES FIVE-YEAR CORAL REEF RESEARCH PLAN
New Plan to Further Benefit Coral Reef Ecosystem Research
March
2, 2007 � NOAA released the NOAA
Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Plan, identifying priority research
needs and guidance for coral reef research through 2011. The plan looks
at key research objectives and long-term needs to enhance NOAA’s
understanding of coral reef ecosystems and provide guidance to coastal
and ocean managers on regional research priorities to help preserve,
sustain and restore coral reef ecosystems. (Click NOAA image
for larger view of the cover for the “NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem
Research Plan.” Click
here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)
“NOAA has developed this research plan to guide the full suite
of NOAA’s coral reef ecosystem research capabilities, as well
guiding management-driven research across U.S. coral reef regions,”
said Timothy Keeney, deputy
assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and co-chair
of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. “By providing researchers and
coastal and ocean managers with high-priority scientific information,
they will be better equipped in their efforts to conserve, protect,
restore and sustain coral reef ecosystems.”
Coral reef ecosystems are highly valued for their biological, ecological,
cultural and economic resources, as well as their aesthetic qualities.
These ecosystems provide coastline protection, renewable resources,
benefit fish populations, and support commercial and recreational activities.
“Research is the cornerstone on which to build and improve ecosystem-based
management and resource management decisions,” said Richard
Spinrad, NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA
Research. “The Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Plan provides
a planning tool for national and regional coral reef research and establishes
an unprecedented NOAA-wide effort containing contributions from regional
coral reef managers and researchers.”
In the past few decades, competing demands on these ecosystems, including
increased threats from natural and human stressors, have contributed
to a significant decline in coral reef health worldwide. NOAA has identified
research as a cross-cutting priority demonstrating that productive research
is the cornerstone on which to build and improve ecosystem-based management.
Two earlier
NOAA reports, The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States
and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2002 and 2005, summarized the
status and health of coral reef ecosystems throughout U.S. waters. Based
on these status reports, the research plan outlines the national and
regional research needed to address the many management challenges presented
by current coral reef decline.
The research
plan also builds on strategies identified in NOAA’s Strategic
Plan, NOAA’s five- and 20-year Research Plan, the National Action
Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs, the National Coral Reef Action Strategy
and the U.S. Ocean Action Plan.
The Coral
Ecosystem Research Plan is a product of the NOAA
Coral Reef Conservation Program, which consists of NOAA Research,
NOAA Ocean Service, NOAA
Fisheries Service, and NOAA
Satellite and Information Service. The plan covers all shallow-water
coral reef ecosystems under the jurisdiction of the United States and
is intended for resource managers, scientists, policy makers and the
public.
A wide variety of experts provided direct input and reviewed the plan,
including representatives from NOAA; other federal, state, territorial,
commonwealth and local agencies; members of the U.S. Coral Reef Task
Force; fisheries management councils; coral reef managers; scientists
and other key stakeholders, as well as the public through a formal request
for comments published in the Federal Register.
NOAA, an
agency of the U.S. Commerce Department,
is celebrating 200 years
of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of
the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation
of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the
1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through
the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and
information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental
stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the
emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and
the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that
is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
Relevant Web Sites
NOAA
Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Plan
NOAA
Coral Reef Conservation Program
Media
Contact:
Daniel Parry, NOAA
Research, (301) 734-1092
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