The first step in creating positive change in our islands, to ensuring the health and longevity of our natural resources, is to understand what the issues are. After all, if you don't know about the problems, how can you care? And isn't it nice when all of that scientific information is put into an easy to digest summary format? The University of Hawaii Sea Grant Program has been doing just that for some time now with scientific progress in Hawaii. Dr. Chip Fletcher has this great (short) publication that summarizes what we currently know about the impacts of climate change today in Hawaii that I hope each and every person will read.
What is Reef Resilience?
We’re familiar with the downward spiral story: Coral reefs are in crisis across the globe. The pressures from overfishing, coastal development, and pollution have been taking their toll on these once-thriving hallmarks of biodiversity for years, and now global stressors such as climate change are contributing to devastating declines around the world. Maui’s reefs are no exception, with a number of our reefs in serious decline.
The good news is that with a little bit of help, reefs can be remarkably resilient to all of these pressures, and an international community of the best minds in coral reef science and management has been working for the past decade to develop the best strategies to maintain or restore the resilience of coral reefs.
Resilience is the ability of systems to absorb, resist or recover from disturbances or to adapt to change while continuing to maintain essential functions and processes. In a nutshell, coral reef resilience is really talking about coral reef health. A healthy reef “immune system” is the key to biological resilience and the ability to stay healthy despite all the pressures that reefs face.
Dr. Eric Conklin (The Nature Conservancy) and I recently completed a six month course in which we learned the latest and greatest lessons gleaned from this international reef resilience community. The course culminated in a five-day workshop in Palau, where we saw firsthand how the implementation of these lessons across many Pacific islands has tangibly benefited the reef resources of these islands and the communities that rely on them. Some of the greatest strengths of this approach include a place-based ecosystem focus, adaptive management flexibility, and inherent community involvement.
This upcoming week Eric and I will be hosting a Reef Resilience training for the Maui DAR office, and if you would like to learn more, you can!!! Below is the link to the online reef resilience online course. Follow the directions and you will receive a certificate at completion. They did a really nice job putting this together. There is a veritable plethora of new information and resources here that are of great value...because we never stop learning.
Reef Resilience Online Training
I hope that you will take the time to explore this website with your morning coffee. Enjoy. And mahalo for taking time to tune in and learn.
-Darla and Eric
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