Dec. 6, 2001 (UPI) -- After the worldwide coral reef die-off in 1998, concern about reefs intensified but matters are far from being under control and conservation efforts are not yet seen as broadly effective.

Most of the causes of reef degradation and destruction are from human activity. Pollution flowing into the oceans from massive soil erosion, runoff of agricultural fertilizers, industrial pollution and urban sewage are major causes. Many reefs suffer from over fishing and destructive fishing practices.

Reefs are built up by countless billions of small animals secreting calcium carbonate that quickly hardens to form the durable structure for a coral colony. The coral animal itself is a soft organism related to jellyfish and other spineless animals, such as hydras and sea anemones.

Corals do not travel around to get their food. They stay fixed to the reef. The soft part, called a polyp, pokes out, usually at night, to look for food. Over time, the hard part secreted by the coral builds up to form the reef, anywhere from 0.3 to 10 centimeters per year, depending on the species.

Some corals look like fans, while others vaguely resemble human brains. Some are brightly colored and some are white. Estimates generally are 25 percent of all ocean species are dependent on coral reefs.

According to the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, based at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville, Australia, 16 percent of the world's reefs were destroyed in the 1997-98 bleaching event.

Added to previous destruction of 11 percent, GCRMN notes 27 percent of the world's reefs have been lost. It believes about half the reefs lost in 1997 and 1998 may recover, but it will take 20 to 50 years, barring further setbacks.

Clive Wilkenson, coordinator of GCRMN told UPI: "Forty percent of the world's coral reefs will be lost by 2010 and another 20 percent in the 20 years following unless urgent management action is implemented."

The International Coral Reef Action network, based in Cambridge England, claims that 60 percent of reefs are "either severely damaged or threatened with immediate damage unless we act soon."

"The most critical need is to expand the pool of people, agencies and governments acting to conserve coral reefs and to link these into cooperating networks or partnerships to better employ the existing pool of financial and logistic resources," Wilkenson said in a paper he presented this week in Paris at the Global Conference on Oceans and Coast at Rio+10.

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, supported by many national governments, the United Nations and the World Bank, says some successes have been achieved in small protected areas through conservation measures, but often these areas are still surrounded by devastation.

One of the biggest problems is the lack of coordination and transparency. Wilkinson told UPI. "Territoralities with small, medium and large nongovernmental organizations, and other agencies -- United Nations being worst offender -- are carving out a bit of territory and not letting anybody peek over the fence to see what they are doing, and more importantly (to see) who is paying the bills," he said.

Protecting reefs is very difficult because of the key role they play in many local economies.

According to Janine Krause, managing director of the Berkeley-based Coral Reef Alliance, "It is a complex issue because many communities depend on the reefs for their livelihood."

Increased coastal populations, overfishing, bomb fishing and cyanide fishing all are causing destruction of the reefs, she said. Local fishermen often resort to using explosives to stun the fish that live in a reef. Sometimes cyanide is put in the water to incapacitate fish and cause them to float to the surface. This often has disastrous results for many reef organisms.

The battle often is fought one reef at a time. A grant by the Coral Reef Alliance of $10,000 to the Statia Marine Park off St. Eustatius in the Caribbean was announced with great enthusiasm. The marine park, which has popular tourist dive sites, was established three years ago to protect the fragile local reefs, but its sole patrol boat was destroyed in a storm. Tourist divers generally are regarded as being in dire need of education about what not to do when diving.

Reef researcher and expert Mark Spalding told UPI: "Taking a global look at reef health, the situation is dire. Most of the world's reefs are degrading, perhaps even at accelerating rates, but there are points of hope which stand out as examples of what can be done."

Spalding points to small local community-operated fishing reserves. "Once given adequate protection, these are brilliant in providing a surplus of fish which can be harvested from surrounding areas," said Spalding, senior marine ecologist of the United Nations Environment Program World Center for Conservation Monitoring, in Cambridge, England.

Spalding said over the past 10 years there has been a "massive" increase in the number of international coalitions and groups that are trying to raise awareness about coral reef issues. ReefBase, Reef Check, the International Coral Reef Initiative and the newly formed International Coral Reef Action Network are just some of the groups. More than 250 organizations now devote their efforts to reversing the trends of reef destruction.

Spalding said there are problems. "Considerable progress would appear to be being made at the organizational level, but the translation of this into improvements in reef health are emerging more slowly," he said.

Spalding believes there may be a lack of connection between the world-scale initiatives and local action, but thinks that coordination in this area is improving.

Spalding, along with co-authors Corinna Ravilious and Edmund P. Green, recently published the 400-page "World Atlas of Coral Reefs," (University of California Press). The book conveys the magical, otherworldly quality of the reefs as well as describing and providing detailed maps of essentially every reef in the world and the threatened areas.

Groups such as Reef Check, based at the University of California in Los Angeles, and International Coral Reef Action Network are trying to boost awareness of local, community-based management as a tool, not only for coral reef protection, but also for improving livelihoods through fisheries and tourism.

Gregor Hodgson, director of Reef Check Foundation, told UPI in the Philippines there is a project in which local fishermen became so interested in coral reef monitoring, they set up a marine protected area and are now making more money from tourism than they ever did from fishing the reefs using dynamite.

Reef Check has set up projects in 50 countries around the world in which volunteer scuba divers and snorklers monitor reef health.

But enormous barriers remain. Agricultural and industrial practices, which lead to polluted runoff, as well as forestry and agricultural practices resulting in high soil erosion and resultant ocean sedimentation, are not going to be abruptly halted or changed.

Global warming is thought by many coral researchers to have played a role in the bleaching event of 1997-98. A rise in ocean water of a fraction of a degree will cause algae that live in a symbiotic relationship with the coral to flee the reef. Corrections in reality to the global warming trend are proceeding at a snail's pace. However, there is paper progress on a treaty, minus the United States, and many countries are taking steps to cut back carbon dioxide emissions.

When the algae leave and the coral die, the coral often changes to a pale shade of grayish-white, hence the term "bleaching."

If the diverse effort now underway to save coral reefs should fail, a key link in the ecological network of the sea will be broken, resulting in the loss many species of plants an d animals. There undoubtedly would be a severe reduction in ocean biodiversity.

It is not a theory that reefs are declining rapidly. The evidence is in. It behooves governments to spend more money to protect and preserve coral reefs now, before it is too late.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.