NOAA Coral Reef News

Based upon feedback received from both internal and external sources, Coral Reef News has undergone a makeover.

This page includes highlights from NOAA Coral Reef News, the monthly e-newsletter of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program. Click here for newsletter subscription information.

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April 2009 - (*pdf, 2.02 MB).

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Free Web Seminar on Coral Bleaching

Public Comment Opportunity Ending Soon: CRCP Roadmap Working Groups Draft Goals and Objectives

Atlantic/Caribbean CREIOS Workshop

Coral Reef Management Fellow Leads Award-Winning Coral Conservation Effort

Pacific CREIOS Workshop Report Available

Free Web Seminar on Coral Bleaching. Join Coral Reef Conservation Program scientists and education specialists, along with staff from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) for a free Web Seminar on April 30. This is the second seminar in a series entitled 'The Heat is On!: Climate Change and Coral Reef Ecosystems.' This seminar will focus on the concept of coral bleaching and touch on cutting edge satellite technology. The presenters will share their science expertise, answer questions from the participants, and provide information regarding Web sites that students can use in the classroom. These Web Seminars are designed for educators of grades 5-12, but open to all. Click here to learn more, register for this seminar, or view archives of the Ocean Acidification seminar held on April 2.  More information on the April 2 seminar can also be found in the 'Updates from Headquarters' section of this issue.

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Public Comment Opportunity Ending Soon: CRCP Roadmap Working Groups Draft Goals and Objectives.  In the Fall, the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) engaged its community of partners through the formation of three threat-based working groups to provide recommendations on the strategic goals and objectives the CRCP should work towards in the next 5-20 years in order to effectively address the top three threats of: Fishing Impacts, Land-Based Sources of Pollution, and Climate Change.  An International Working Group was also established to focus on international efforts to alleviate all three major threats to reefs.  Each working group delivered draft goals and objectives on March 27th, a culmination of six months of work. These draft goals and objectives are available for public comment through April 24, 2009.  For more information, directions on how to provide public comment, and to access the Draft documents, please visit the Public Comment page on the CRCP Web site.  Comments received will be forwarded to the appropriate working group for consideration and incorporation into the final document, as appropriate.  The final goals and objectives will be delivered in May 2009; they will drive the development of targeted projects to address each threat over the long term and will influence project funding decisions.

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Atlantic/Caribbean CREIOS Workshop. The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) is reviewing its portfolio of monitoring and mapping activities, collectively called the Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System (CREIOS).  The CRCP will bring together coral reef ecosystem managers and CRCP scientists at a two-day workshop May 13-14 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The geographic focus will primarily be on Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to a lesser extent, Navassa Island and coral-dominated banks in the Gulf of Mexico.  The workshop will be similar to the Pacific CREIOS workshop held in Honolulu last November.  More details on the Caribbean workshop can be found in the March issue or online.

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Coral Reef Management Fellow Leads Award-Winning Coral Conservation Effort. Each April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 honors individuals and organizations who have contributed significantly to improving the environment during the prior year.  The International Year of the Reef 2008 (IYOR) efforts in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) have been honored with an Environmental Quality Award (EQA).  This award selection recognizes the significant contributions of the St. Croix IYOR Committee for improving environmental quality of local natural resources in the USVI, and for creating increased public involvement in environmental action. Karlyn Langjahr, a Coral Reef Management Fellow with NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program, led the efforts and will accept the award for the St. Croix IYOR Committee at a ceremony in USVI this summer.

The St. Croix IYOR Committee formed as a small, grass-roots group of environmental/marine professionals dedicated to bringing IYOR to the community at large.  The overall goal was to raise community awareness about the various benefits of coral reefs to U.S. Virgin Islanders and to expose under-served youth and adults to the marine environment.  In reaching community members with direct experiences to draw upon, the St. Croix IYOR movement shared the global IYOR vision of celebrating coral reefs for their human-associated values to the island community in order to foster stewardship to generate public action and advocacy for these natural resources. 

The Committee operated with little funding and relied on volunteer time, pursuing local donations and sponsorships to run 17 events during IYOR 2008.  Events included snorkel clinics, free educational movie nights, beach and underwater cleanups, the St. Croix Reef Jam fundraiser, SCUBA certification for high school students, and media outreach campaigns through the production of radio public service announcements.  They partnered with local government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and community groups.  The members continue their efforts through St. Croix Reef Jam, beginning the process of establishing a 501-3(c) non-profit to raise funds annually to run local coral reef education and conservation efforts on the island of St. Croix. 

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Pacific CREIOS Workshop Report Available.  The CRCP is reviewing and revising long-term plans for its monitoring, mapping, and assessment activities, collectively known as the Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System (CREIOS), to ensure they are cost-effective, aligned with management needs, and allow for the timely delivery of required products and services to all essential users, given funding constraints. As a first step in a strategic planning effort to strengthen the link between science and management goals, the Pacific CREIOS workshop was held in Hawai`i last November to address needs of coral reef managers in the U.S. Pacific States and Territories. A similar workshop will take place in May 2009 examining the mapping, monitoring, and data needs of reef managers in the Atlantic/Caribbean region.

The Pacific workshop was successful in determining priority information needs for reef managers, and highlighted important issues of concern for the Pacific jurisdictions, including the need for increased technical capacity, improved information and data dissemination, and improved communication of scientific information to general audiences.  The outcomes of the workshop were compiled into a Workshop Report, which is now available. The report will be used by the CRCP in examining its portfolio of mapping, monitoring, and assessment activities, and will also be used as a preamble to the identification of priorities and the capacity assessments for each location.

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