Asian nations warn of coral 'mass extinction'

Sebastien Blanc Yahoo News 8 Dec 07;

Asian delegates at UN climate change talks have renewed calls to protect the region's huge stock of coral reefs, partly blaming global warming for their alarming decline.

Six Southeast Asian and Pacific nations have launched a joint initiative to save the 'coral triangle' which contains more than half the world's reefs, considered building blocks for marine life.

"I regret to say that marine resources of our countries and our regions are threatened by climate change, destructive fishing and pollution," said Freddy Numberi, Indonesia's Minister of Maritime Affairs.

The countries aim to establish a network of protected marine zones, to decrease wear and tear on the reefs caused by the fishing industry and to promote eco-tourism.

More than 600 species of coral -- 76 percent of those known -- and more than 3,000 species of plants and fish live in the waters encompassing the Philippines, East Timor, part of Indonesia and Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

"The coral triangle is the place for corals in the world, it's the global centre, it's the Amazon of the seas," said J.E.N. Veron, former chief scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

However experts say the greatest threat is from rising sea temperatures blamed on global warming.

"We are precipitating a mass extinction of absolutely everything," Veron said. "Corals are the first really big ecosystem to be wiped out by climate change."

Hotter seas bleach and weaken the algae that give the underwater sea life its vibrant colour, and make it more susceptible to a mystery disease killing off the reefs.

The coral bleaching and die-off have been chronicled by scientists around the world in recent years, though some researchers differ over whether there is a direct link with global warming.

Lida Pet Soede, head of the WWF's coral programme, said the results are not in doubt with corals whitening, then dying and finally falling apart.

"The effects are there and it is quite dramatic," she said.

The breakdown of coral reefs, known as a key foundation for sea life, will have a large impact.

"The fish need structures to hide, to eat and to reproduce," Soede said.

Marine resources in the coral triangle provide a living for 120 million people. One-third of the world's tuna catches come from the area.

Delegates from nearly 190 nations are gathered in Indonesia's Bali island for a December 3-14 summit tasked with laying the groundwork for a new treaty to tackle global warming beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's first phase expires.

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