UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Monitoring of coral reefs and potential for application of SUMARE tools Emily Corcoran Bora Truchet /UNEP /Still Pictures

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre UNEP Coral Reef Unit (CRU) Established December 2000 within UNEP to help lead international efforts to save the world's threatened coral reefs Provides policy link between UNEP-WCMC, ICRI & operational networks Re-located May 2003 to the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), Cambridge / UK Works alongside UNEP-WCMC's Marine and Coastal Programme, the ICRAN Co-ordination Unit and the ICRI Secretariat

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Work of UNEP-CRU 1.5 person team, headed by Dr Stefan Hain International coral reef policy support to on the ground needs Remit stipulated by UNEP GC Reaches out to other agencies and MEAs Supports a range of coral reef activities (tropical and deep/cold water) Partner and funder of GCRMN

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Tropical Coral Reef Facts (i) Coral reefs cover 284,000km 2 world wide 0-50m deep More than one million species (=25%) of marine life and biodiversity depend on coral reefs and associated shallow water ecosystems

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Tropical Coral Reef Facts (ii) Livelihood of one billion people depends on coral reefs. Coral reefs account for 25% of the global fish catch. Physical existence, social, economic and even political stability of many small countries and island states is intrinsically linked to coral reefs Coral reefs provide each year about US$30 billion in net benefits to world economies.

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Monitoring Coral Reefs Why - major objectives for current monitoring What - are the different aspects of the coral reef ecosystem that we need to look at? How – the methods currently available

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Why Objectives for monitoring reefs Provide statistically rigorous information for science and management To look at spatial and temporal patterns in coral reef habitats Specific objectives depends on who the information is for –Resource users –Reef managers –Scientists –International policy makers

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre What needs monitoring? Distribution of coral Patterns Biodiversity Reef and ecosystem condition Seasonality Threats Monitored over time and space

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Above water (remote) On the water Below water Autonomous under water vehicles Aerial photography Satellite Boats Diver operated

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Considerations for Method Selection Resolution Replicability Reliability Site location and characteristics Available time / resources / capacity (human, financial, institutional) Effort Vs Accuracy

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Costs from CRAMP Hawaii (Brown et al. 1999) Digital video transect* set up $5,400 6 divers for 10 transects at 2 depths – from $ per day* Quadrat surveys $0.01/ data point after 100 surveys Photo quadrat* $0.21/ data point after 100 surveys

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Potential applications for SUMARE Medium scale monitoring Conditions/depths not suitable for divers Sea bed mapping Surveying cold/deepwater reefs? Distinguishing between live/dead coral? Questions

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Some questions to consider Practicalities What is the angle and depth of the sensors (effective distance to the object and aperture What tools can be employed? (which parameters could it be used to measure)? To what depth can it be used? Are there applications that can distinguish between live and dead substrates Would the rugosity of coral reefs confuse the AUV (given the complexity of the contours)

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Costs What is the life expectancy of the apparatus? Cost over 10/ 50/ 100 Surveys Post collection analysis How is data archived How complex is the analysis of data? What are the maintenance and training requirements?

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Future directions? Further evaluation for potential coral reef applications – contact point for SUMARE? Putting the tools to the test –Tropical reefs? –Cold/deep water reefs?

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Thank you for your attention

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Considerations and constraints Costs Accuracy Site accessibility Site conditions Diver dependency Capacity (human, institutional, financial) TRADE OFFS

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre What to monitor 5 areas of coral reef monitoring –The benthos –Population ecology –Reef biodiversity –Pollutants and anthropogenic impacts –Community interactions

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre Questions To be competitive, any method must be robust and easily used What are the next steps from here - further discussions with CRU? Putting SUMARE tools to the test - tropical reefs/ cold/deepwater reefs Emily Corcoran Application to coral reef monitoring

UNEP Coral Reef Unit Division of Environmental Conventions c/o UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre The role for new technologies sdgfdfghtdg