EDITORIAL - Dwindling corals

It occupies only one percent of the planet’s surface. But the Coral Triangle, off the coasts of six nations including the Philippines, is home to 75 percent of all coral species and a third of the world’s corals. The triangle — occupying about 1.6 million square kilometers — is also home to some 3,000 species of fish including the commercial yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye tuna, as well as the world’s largest fish, the whale shark. Five of the world’s seven species of sea turtles nest on the shores of the Coral Triangle, which is also home to a fish that is believed to predate dinosaurs.

In the past four decades, pollution and climate change have destroyed 40 percent of the coral reefs and mangroves in the Triangle. Experts warn that if the trend is not reversed, an area likened to the Amazon rainforest in terms of biodiversity could be wiped out by the end of the century.

Two years ago the World Wide Fund for Nature launched a multilateral effort called the Coral Triangle Initiative to save the area. This was followed last year by the Coral Triangle Program. This week leaders of the six nations within the triangle — the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor — committed to save the Coral Triangle from destruction.

That’s not a light commitment. The corals are being destroyed not just by poachers and destructive forms of fishing but also by pollution and changing ocean temperatures due to climate change. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a continuing global effort. Other countries in Asia will also have to cooperate in this initiative. Even with joint patrols, the extensive coastlines of the nations in the Coral Triangle overwhelm their resources for policing the waters effectively. The Philippines, with its poorly equipped Navy and Coast Guard, is one of the most vulnerable to intrusions by poachers and fishermen using dynamite and other destructive fishing methods. The challenges are daunting and confronting them must go beyond ceremonial commitments.