The Coral Triangle (CT) is a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion. [3] The Coral Triangle is located between the Pacific and Indian oceans [4] and encompasses portions of two biogeographic regions: the Indonesian-Philippines Region, and the Far Southwestern Pacific Region. [5] As one of eight major coral reef zones in the world, [6] the Coral Triangle is recognized as a global centre of marine biodiversity [7] and a global priority for conservation. [8] Its biological resources make it a global hotspot of marine biodiversity. Known as the "Amazon of the seas" (by analogy to the Amazon rainforest in South America), it covers 5.7 million square kilometres (2,200,000 sq mi) of ocean waters. [9] It contains more than 76% of the world's shallow-water reef-building coral species, 37% of its reef fish species, 50% of its razor clam species, six out of seven of the world's sea turtle species, and the world's largest mangrove forest. [4] The epicenter of that coral diversity is found in the Bird’s Head Seascape of Indonesian Papua, which hosts 574 species (95% of the Coral Triangle, and 72% of the world’s total). [10] In 2014, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported that the gross domestic product of the marine ecosystem in the Coral Triangle is roughly $1.2 trillion per year and provides food to over 120 million people. [11] [4] According to the Coral Triangle Knowledge Network, [12] the region annually brings in about $3 billion in foreign exchange income from fisheries exports, and another $3 billion from coastal tourism revenues.
The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the region a top priority for marine conservation, and is addressing ecological threats to the region through its Coral Triangle Program, [13] launched in 2007. The center of biodiversity in the Triangle is the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines. [14] Coral reef area in the region to have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site are Tubbataha Reef Natural Park in the Philippines [15] and Raja Ampat UNESCO Global Geopark in Indonesia. [16]
While it covers only 1.6% of the planet's oceanic area, the region has 76% of all known coral species in the world. As a habitat for 52% of Indo-Pacific reef fishes and 37% of the world's reef fishes, it contains the greatest diversity of coral reef fishes in the world [17] More than 3,000 species of bony fish are distributed over more than 90% of the Coral Triangle. Among the largest of these fish are the whale shark, the coelacanth and the chimaerans. [4]
The Coral Triangle is the epicentre for the biodiversity, not only of corals and fish, but also of many other marine organisms. It contains roughly 950 species of Molluscs and 458 crustacean species. [4] It is also the habitat for six of the world's seven marine turtle species. [4]
Thirteen percent of the Coral Triangle has been identified as being clustered into hotspots of high marine biodiversity importance, including the southern part of the Philippines, the north-eastern part of Sabah in Malaysia, the central to eastern zones of Indonesia, the eastern part of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. [18] The parts of the Coral Triangle that have the highest number of species comprise 6% of the triangle's total area. They include stretches along the coast of the Philippines (including the northern coast of Luzon, Bohol, Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu Archipelago), [18] Malaysia (the northeastern coast of Sabah), Indonesia (the northern and southeastern part of Sulawesi, the Banda Sea, Maluku Islands (the Mollucas), and the Raja Ampat Archipelago of Indonesian Papua), [18] Papua New Guinea (the coastal areas of Madang Province, New Britain, Milne Bay, the Louisiade Archipelago, and Bougainville Island), [18] and the Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal and Makira-Ulawa Province). [18] [4] However, more than half (70%) of the zones in the Coral Triangle are classified as low species richness areas. [4]
The sites of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle include: (1) the northern tip of Sulawesi, (2) Ambon Island, (3) Kai Islands (also Kei Islands), (4) Raja Ampat Archipelago of Indonesian Papua, (5) the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines, (6) the southern part of Negros in the Philippines, and (7) Cebu in the Philippines. [18]
The greatest extent of mangrove forest in the world is also found in the Coral Triangle. These forests’ large area and extraordinary range of habitats and environmental conditions have played a major role in maintaining the staggering biodiversity of the Coral Triangle. [19]
The Coral Triangle countries comprised a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 19 seagrass species that belong to four distinct families (Hydrocharitaceae, Cymodoceaceae, Zosteraceae, and Ruppiaceae) and cover almost 58,550.63 km2. While a total of 21 species of seagrass have been found throughout this eco-region. [20]
A joint Indonesian–U.S. marine survey expedition in 2008 discovered deep-sea biodiversity and underwater active volcanoes at a depth of 3800 meters along the western ridge. Around 40 newly identified deep-sea coral species were found there. Most are whitish in color, because the area is not a habitat for colorful algae species, which are generally shallow-living. Hydrothermal vents and coral reefs at a depth of 4000 meters were found to have created a habitat for marine niche shrimps, crabs, barnacles, and sea cucumbers. [21]
According to Indonesia's Minister of Research and Technology / National Research and Innovation Agency (Menristek / Head of BRIN), Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro, Coral Triangle countries are in need of a greater number of taxonomists and oceanographers to address the challenges of cataloguing the biodiversity in the area. He has said that goal of this research is not only to increase human knowledge, but also to apply that knowledge to the project of protecting coastal and marine biodiversity from extinction. [22]
There are three different theories as to why the Coral Triangle (East Indies Triangle) has such a high diversity of species, and each theory proposes a different explanatory model. They are usually termed the “centre of origin” model, the “centre of overlap” model, and the “centre of accumulation” model. [23] [24]
The Coral Triangle lies at a crossroads of rapidly increasing anthropogenic activities, (population growth, economic growth and international trade), [25] habitat change, over-exploitation of resources, [20] and climate change. [4] Competition, predation, fishing practices, marine pollution, marine debris, dredging, sunscreen contamination, climate change, ocean acidification (OA), disease, recreational diving, sea level rise, temperature increase and other issues briefly described in environmental issues with coral reefs. [20]
Ocean acidification is a global threat to coral reef ecosystems. [26] Based on the biodiversity in the Coral Triangle area, damage will come to many sectors, because the coral reef is a fundamental ecosystem in the coastal area. Started by rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the calcium carbonate decrease then enhances bioerosion and dissolution rate. The CT should have oligotrophic waters, so the light would penetrate and support photosynthesis by zooxanthellae algae. However coral reef in West Maui, Hawaii, has a sustained condition of nutrient-rich, lower pH submarine groundwater discharge that lowers the pH of seawater. Also, the corals are exposed to nitrate concentrations 50 times higher than ambient.[ clarification needed ] Rates of coral calcification are substantially decreased, and rates of bioerosion are orders of magnitude higher than in healthy oligotrophic waters. Measurement using heavier nitrogen isotope (δ15N) values shows that eutrophication of reef seawater by land‐based sources of pollution can magnify the effects of ocean acidification through nutrient-driven-bioerosion. These conditions could contribute to the collapse of coastal coral reef ecosystems sooner than current projections based only on ocean acidification predict.
The biodiversity and natural productivity of the coral triangle are under threat from poor marine management (primarily from coastal development, overfishing and destructive fishing), lack of political will, poverty, high market demand, local disregard for rare and threatened species, climate change (warming, ocean acidification and rising sea levels). Coral reefs have experienced mass bleaching, which threaten to degrade the important ecosystems. An estimated 120 million people live within the Coral Triangle, of which approximately 2.25 million are fishers who depend on healthy seas to make a living. These threats are putting at risk livelihoods, economies, and future market supplies for species such as tuna. [27] Studies have highlighted the alarming decline of coral cover in this region. [28] However, a report published in 2021 described the reefs of the Coral Triangle as having shown resilience to large scale bleaching events. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) reported in 2021, that the East Asian Seas region, which includes the Coral Triangle, was the only region where coral cover was substantially greater in 2019 (36.8%) as compared to 1983 (32.8%), which is the year that the earliest data was collected. This increase in coral cover occurred notwithstanding the reefs were affected by large scale coral bleaching events during the 2010s. The data on the cover of algae in the East Asian Seas shows that the cover of algae has progressively decreased resulting in an average of five times more coral than algae on these reefs. [29]
Since the marine resources are a principal source of income for the population, the downstream effects of losing these critical coastal ecosystems are enormous.
The Coral Triangle is the subject of high-level conservation efforts by the region's governments, nature conservation organizations such as World Wide Fund for Nature, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, and donor agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility and USAID.
In August 2007, Indonesia's President Yudhoyono proposed a multilateral partnership to "safeguard the region’s marine and coastal biological resources" with five other countries geographically located in the CT (Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and the Philippines). [25] The multilateral partnership then named as Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF).
The plan of action of the CTI-CFF, is to achieve the following: [30] [31]
The longer-term goals of the CTI-CFF are to: [32] [33]
The solid-science resources management strength[ clarification needed ] builds with the scientific support of the university and research institute. On 28 February - 1 March 2017, the 1st Meeting of the CTI-CFF University Partnership in Manado [34] was held, aimed at: [35]
The results of this meeting:
The primary criteria used to delineate the Coral Triangle were:
There is considerable overlap between the boundaries of the Coral Triangle that are based primarily on high coral biodiversity (more than 500 species), and the boundaries based on the area of greatest biodiversity for coral reef fishes. [37] [38]
The 2013 documentary film Journey to the South Pacific tells the story of Coral Triangle conservation against the backdrop of island life. [39]
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia, separated from the coast by a channel 160 kilometres (100 mi) wide in places and over 61 metres (200 ft) deep. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 1997. Australian World Heritage places included it in its list in 2007. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland in 2006.
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine Archipelago and the largest sea in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million square kilometers. The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its western border is the first island chain to the west, comprising the Ryukyu Islands in the northwest and Taiwan in the west. Its southwestern border comprises the Philippine islands of Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao. Its northern border comprises the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyūshū. Its eastern border is the second island chain to the east, comprising the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the northeast, the Mariana Islands in the due east, and Halmahera, Palau, Yap and Ulithi in the southeast. Its southern border is Indonesia's Morotai Island.
A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural resources is prohibited, marine reserves may also be "no-take MPAs,” which strictly forbid all extractive activities, such as fishing and kelp harvesting. As of 2007 less than 1% of the world's oceans had been set aside in marine reserves. Benefits include increases in the diversity, density, biomass, body size and reproductive potential of fishery and other species within their boundaries.
Southeast Asian coral reefs have the highest levels of biodiversity for the world's marine ecosystems. They serve many functions, such as forming the livelihood for subsistence fishermen and even function as jewelry and construction materials. Corals inhabit coastal waters off of every continent except Antarctica, with an abundance of reefs residing along Southeast Asian coastline in several countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Coral reefs are developed by the carbonate-based skeletons of a variety of animals and algae. Slowly and over time, the reefs build up to the surface in oceans. Coral reefs are found in shallow, warm salt water. The sunlight filters through clear water and allows microscopic organisms to live and reproduce. Coral reefs are actually composed of tiny, fragile animals known as coral polyps. Coral reefs are significantly important because of the biodiversity. Although the number of fish are decreasing, the remaining coral reefs contain more unique sea creatures. The variety of species living on a coral reef is greater than anywhere else in the world. An estimation of 70-90% of fish caught are dependent on coral reefs in Southeast Asia and reefs support over 25% of all known marine species.
Blast fishing, fish bombing, dynamite fishing or grenade fishing is a destructive fishing practice using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. This often illegal practice is extremely destructive to the surrounding ecosystem, as the explosion often destroys the underlying habitat that supports the fish. The frequently improvised nature of the explosives used, and undetonated charges, means danger for fishermen and divers as well, with accidents and injuries.
Wetar Strait is an international strait in Southeast Asia. It separates the island of Wetar from the eastern part of the island of Timor. The strait is also the eastern portion of a pair of international straits, the other one being Ombai Strait; the two straits combine to link the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable space on Earth. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live. The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides. Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal systems, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons. In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria form the base of the food web.
The Verde Island Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines, connecting the South China Sea with the Tayabas Bay and the Sibuyan Sea beyond. Traditionally, the sea lane has been one of the busiest in the Philippines because it acts as a corridor from the Port of Manila to the Visayas and Mindanao in the south. A network of ferry routes cross the passage and connect the surrounding provinces of Batangas, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro and Romblon. The Verde Island Passage is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle. The 1.14 million hectare passage is extremely rich in marine biodiversity and has been called "Center of the Center of Marine Shorefish Biodiversity" with various conservation groups and local government units pushing for its nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago located off of the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula, Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals around the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.
A wild fishery is a natural body of water with a sizeable free-ranging fish or other aquatic animal population that can be harvested for its commercial value. Wild fisheries can be marine (saltwater) or lacustrine/riverine (freshwater), and rely heavily on the carrying capacity of the local aquatic ecosystem.
The Central Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean, and the connecting seas.
A Marine Protected Area Network or MPA network is a network of Marine Protected Areas or Marine Reserves.
Bunaken National Park is a marine park in the north of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The park is located near the centre of the Coral Triangle, providing habitat to 390 species of coral as well as many fish, mollusks, reptiles and marine mammal species. The park is representative of Indonesian tropical water ecosystems, consisting of seagrass plains, coral reefs and coastal ecosystems.
Wakatobi National Park is a marine national park in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was established in 2002. The name of Wakatobi is a portmanteau of the four main Tukangbesi Islands: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Since 2005 the park is listed as a tentative World Heritage Site.
Human activities have substantial impact on coral reefs, contributing to their worldwide decline. Damaging activities encompass coral mining, pollution, overfishing, blast fishing, as well as the excavation of canals and access points to islands and bays. Additional threats comprise disease, destructive fishing practices, and the warming of oceans. Furthermore, the ocean's function as a carbon dioxide sink, alterations in the atmosphere, ultraviolet light, ocean acidification, viral infections, the repercussions of dust storms transporting agents to distant reefs, pollutants, and algal blooms represent some of the factors exerting influence on coral reefs. Importantly, the jeopardy faced by coral reefs extends far beyond coastal regions. The ramifications of climate change, notably global warming, induce an elevation in ocean temperatures that triggers coral bleaching—a potentially lethal phenomenon for coral ecosystems.
Pom Pom Island is a small coral reef island in the Celebes Sea approximately 30 kilometres north east of Semporna town, Sabah, East Malaysia.
The resilience of coral reefs is the biological ability of coral reefs to recover from natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as storms and bleaching episodes. Resilience refers to the ability of biological or social systems to overcome pressures and stresses by maintaining key functions through resisting or adapting to change. Reef resistance measures how well coral reefs tolerate changes in ocean chemistry, sea level, and sea surface temperature. Reef resistance and resilience are important factors in coral reef recovery from the effects of ocean acidification. Natural reef resilience can be used as a recovery model for coral reefs and an opportunity for management in marine protected areas (MPAs).
Amed is a village on the east coast in Abang District, Karangasem Regency, Bali, Indonesia. In the wake of heavy tourism development, actors in the tourism industry use the village's name to designate a 14-km stretch of coast that includes several other villages, namely from west to east: Amed, Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah, Lehan, Selang, Banyuning, Aas and Kusambi. A more correct geographical name would be the north coast of the Seraya peninsula, or North Seraya.
The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF), or the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), is a multilateral collaborative partnership among six countries. Partners work together to sustain living marine and coastal resources by addressing crucial issues such as food security, climate change, and marine biodiversity.
The Coral Triangle Day was established on June 9, to celebrate and raise awareness of the ocean conservation and protection, especially on the Coral Triangle, the world's epicenter of marine biodiversity. Intended as an open-sourced event, the day is celebrated by individuals, organizations, and establishment concerned on the Coral Triangle. The Coral Triangle day was observed the first time on June 9, 2012, in conjunction with the World Oceans Day on June 8.
{{cite report}}
: |author1=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)