The Caribbean Reefs at Risk map server provides spatial information about coastal areas and human threats to coastal ecosystems for the wider Caribbean Region. Most of the data, on this web site, come from the Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project (
World Resources Institute, 2004) or from the
University of the West Indies Caribbean Coastal Data Center (UWI-CDC). The Map Analyzer allows interactive viewing of a wide range of spatial data on coral reefs, the physical landscape (watersheds, land cover, bathymetry), human population and development, and modeled indicators of threats to coral reefs.
This site is developed and maintained by
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII). Reefs at Risk
The Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project was initiated to raise awareness about threats to coral reefs -- specifically the linkages between human activities and coral reef health -- and provide detailed information about threats in specific locations across the Caribbean region. The project has relied on collaborations with scientists and other partners in the region to develop reliable indicators of human pressure on coral reefs. Four broad categories of threat were evaluated - coastal development, inland sources of sediment and pollution, marine-based threats and overfishing. These data are presented on this map server, along with an index of integrated threat, which summarizes the four individual threat categories. The Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project also includes an evaluation of the economic value of goods and services associated with healthy coral reefs and of economic losses likely to result from coral reef degradation, in addition to offering policy recommendations for preserving these precious ecosystems (
http://marine.wri.org/pubs_description.cfm?PubID=3944).
UWI - CDC
The University of the West Indies (Mona campus in Jamaica) has a long history of research and graduate training in the marine sciences. The Centre for Marine Sciences (CMS) brings together marine scientists, based in diverse departments, as a multi-disciplinary group, able to work together on the complex environmental and social issues related to the development of coastal and marine resources. At CMS, the Caribbean Coastal Data Centre serves several programmes, including Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity (CARICOMP) and Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Global Climate Change (CPACC), handling physical and biological data sets from the wider Caribbean region. (visit
http://www.mona.uwi.edu/cms/ccdc.htm for more information.)
