Caribbean Matters: With Earth Day on the way, let's talk coral reefs and climate change
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Millions of people around the globe visit the Caribbean each year, thrilled to vacation there and experience not only the beaches and well known-tourist destinations, but also to explore the region’s amazing biodiversity. There are over 11,000 plant species, and 72 are unique to the region. A major attraction has always been the amazing coral reefs, and efforts to preserve them have been ongoing for many years.
I’ve had the chance to travel to the Caribbean many times in the past. I swam with dolphins in the Bahamas, snorkeled off the Virgin Islands, glass-bottom boated in the waters of Barbados, and marveled at the bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico—and I am well aware that these natural riches are under attack by climate change.
It is important that we support the efforts of governments and organizations that are on the front lines of the fight to preserve the region’s unique natural resources.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
Writing for the Jamaica Gleaner this week, James L. Fletcher, the managing director of sustainable development firm SOLORICON and founder of the Caribbean Climate Justice Project, enumerated significant concerns for the area’s future.
The countries in the Caribbean, like other small island developing states (SIDS), are on the frontline of the battle against climate change. For many developed countries in the global North, climate change is still an academic issue – something to be debated and investigated. For them, the discussion centres mostly around what will happen by the end of this century. However, for us in the Caribbean, climate change is a clear and present danger, something that we are living and experiencing every day of our lives.
The facts are clear and irrefutable. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has shown that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are at their highest concentrations in at least two million years, while the concentrations of the other two greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, are at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years. It has been 45 years since our planet had a colder-than-average year, and human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in the last 2,000 years.
For SIDS, this is translating into more excessively warm days, significant variability in rainfall, warmer oceans, loss of coastlines due to sea level rise, more intense droughts, more frequent flooding, and more severe hurricanes. Our marine and terrestrial ecosystems are under threat. Our rich biodiversity is in peril. Water insecurity is becoming a serious concern. Food security is being threatened by warmer temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns. Our oceans are getting warmer and more acidic, and this is negatively impacting our fisheries sector. Additionally, our coral reefs are being damaged by the increasing ocean temperatures and acidity, and this in turn is affecting the dive sector and the tourism industry on which so many of our island economies depend.
Fletcher explores the need for the governments in the Caribbean to demand climate justice from the world’s major powers and calls for nations to support the United Nations Human Rights Council 2021 position “that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right.”
For further reading, consider this sobering U.N. data, which Fletcher mentions above.
The University of the West Indies Mona Climate Studies Group at (CSGM) says Caribbean islands need to pay attention to the second installment of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, known as the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
The report, which was released in February, presents a dire warning of the significant implications of inaction for the globe and the region; noting that even temporarily exceeding the global warming of 1.5°C that is anticipated in the next two decades will result in severe effects, some of which will be irreversible.
CSGM says while the report covers the global impacts, vulnerabilities, and risks of climate change, Chapter 15 is dedicated to addressing small islands in the Caribbean, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
Details of a grim future facing the Caribbean should not obfuscate the efforts being undertaken to combat the impact of climate change. One such effort has been ongoing in Belize at the Laughing Bird Caye National Park pictured above, and detailed in a 2021 story from the BBC’s Veronica Perkova, who notes that “when Hurricane Iris hit southern Belize in 2001, the country’s magnificent corals were destroyed. But within 10 years, a radical restoration project brought the reef back to life.”
When Lisa Carne first visited the island in 1994, there were so many large, bright reddish-orange interlocking elkhorn corals that she could hardly swim through or around them. The reef was abundant in fish, corals, lobsters, crabs, sponges and sea turtles. But after the hurricane all of this was destroyed. With only a few surviving corals, the scene looked more like a graveyard
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For five years after Hurricane Iris, the reef lay bare. There were few live corals, schools of fish or lobsters, and the seabed was covered in reef rubble and encrusting sponges. Carne began pitching her restoration ideas in 2002, but for several years had no luck. Then in 2006, the US listed Caribbean acroporid corals (the fastest growing type of branching coral in the Caribbean, and the main reef-building one) as endangered, and a local funder approved Carne’s proposal to restore the reef.
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In 2013, Carne registered a non-profit community-based organisation in Belize called Fragments of Hope and two years later added a US branch. Fragments of Hope developed a coral restoration training course, endorsed by the Belize Fisheries Department, which has certified over 70 Belizeans to date, says Maya Trotz, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of South Florida and a US board member of Fragments of Hope. The restoration supplements local people’s incomes from tourism and fishing with restoration jobs. “Fragments of Hope engages young people, and has created colouring books and puzzles about the reef, featuring artwork of a local artist,” says Trotz. “Over 2,500 have been distributed to date to schools across Belize.”
This YouTube video from Cameron Sabin tells more of the stunning story.
As Sabin notes in the video’s description:
The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System is one of the longest barrier reefs in the world, second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It’s made up of 7 different protected areas, including the world famous Belize Blue Hole. In 2001 though, Belize’s barrier reefs were severely damaged by Hurricane Iris. Corals were completely uprooted and the reef was left in a dire state. Laughing Bird Caye National Park was particularly hard hit. That destruction made the restoration of Belize’s coral reef all the more remarkable, especially at a time when coral reefs around the world are under threat from climate change, coral bleaching, severe weather, development, and more.What started off as a small reef restoration research project has since blossomed into a full-blown, country-wide conservation movement. The organization Fragments of Hope started off by raising young corals and replanting them when they were big enough to be put on the reef, but since then local Belizeans have joined the effort and the Belizean government has even adopted more stringent protections for the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System.
Check out this video to learn even more about Carne’s organization, Fragments of Hope.
Of course coral is not the only area of concern of conservationists’ efforts in the Caribbean. The list posted by James Fletcher above demonstrates the sheer number of challenges. Many of those efforts will be highlighted on Earth Day, the theme of which is “Invest in Our Planet” for 2022.
Many of the Caribbean islands are engaging in Earth Day events, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Seven state and federal agencies will celebrate Earth Day by offering a two-day virtual conference promoting climate resilience and equity in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, on April 19-20.
Nearly 80 speakers and moderators working with climate change issues in the islands will share their perspectives in plenary talks and breakout sessions and dialog with the public.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), US Geological Survey, US Department of the Interior (DOI), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and The Nature Conservancy are conducting the event.
I’ve also been following the work of the Mangrove Action Project in the Bahamas.
The Mangrove Action Project hosted a mangrove restoration workshop on Grand Bahama in April; as detailed below, the trees are extremely important to the nation’s survival.
The MAP team is in the Bahamas! We are here with Waterkeepers Bahamas and Earthcare to teach a mangrove restoration workshop. Mangroves are incredibly important in the Bahamas due to their ability to protect against coastal erosion and provide a buffer against storms. They are home to many marine species that are important to local fisheries and the tourism industry. Mangroves are a nature-based solution that can help to address many of the interconnected challenges we face relating to climate change, biodiversity loss and supporting sustainable livelihoods.
Hurricane Dorian caused huge devastation in Grand Bahama in 2019, destroying over 70% of the mangrove forests on the island. Many community groups, including Waterkeepers and Earthcare, are trying to restore these vital ecosystems. “It is hard to believe the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian until you see it for yourself, there are dead mangrove trees as far as the eye can see” said Laura Michie, our Restoration Manager and CBEMR trainer. “This workshop aims to enhance understanding of mangrove ecology and stakeholder needs to improve project outcomes for mangroves and communities.”
In light of the potential for mangroves to also store huge amounts of carbon, these trees are set to play a pivotal role in many conservation and restoration projects. “It is great to see so many groups working on mangrove restoration, but it’s vital that these projects are done right for them to be successful,” said Laura. Sadly, many attempts to restore these valuable ecosystems fail, largely due to a lack of understanding of underlying ecological and social pressures. Mangrove planting initiatives around the world have met an unfortunately high rate of failure.
Barbados, meanwhile, is engaging its residents with a climate change photo challenge.
As Earth Day looms, please amplify and pass along this information! Feel free to post any information you have in the comments, where I’ll be posting even more upcoming Earth Day events, and, as always, serving up the weekly Caribbean News Twitter roundup.