News Archive: October - December 2006

New York Receives Full Approval of its Coastal Nonpoint Program

On December 5th, OCRM, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, fully approved New York’s Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program.  The Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program was established by Congress in 1990 to encourage better coordination between state coastal zone managers and water quality experts to reduce polluted runoff in the coastal zone. Coastal states must develop programs, backed by enforceable authorities, to implement a suite of management measures that will control runoff from six main sources: forestry, agriculture, urban areas, marinas, hydromodification (shoreline and stream channel modification), and wetlands and riparian areas.  New York is the 18th coastal state or territory to receive full approval for their Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program.  For additional information, contact Allison Castellan.

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NOAA Provides International Coral Reef Leadership, Supports Declaration of 2008 as International Year of the Reef

At a meeting of the International Coral Reef Initiative in Cozumel, Mexico, in October over 45 nations and organizations voted to declare 2008 as the International Year of the Reef (IYOR). The declaration calls on researchers and coral reef managers to use the year to increase global awareness of the economic, ecological, and cultural value of coral reefs and to improve commitments to protect and sustain these threatened and valuable ecosystems.

coral reefThe vote followed several IYOR workshops led by NOAA and partners at the third quadrennial International Tropical Marine Ecosystem Management Symposium (ITMEMS3), a week-long conference focused on management best practices and solutions for coral reef resource managers around the world.

ITMEMS3 brought together over 300 people from 45 countries, and consisted of over 50 workshops addressing a broad range of coral reef management challenges such as disaster management and restoration, enforcement, fisheries and aquaculture, modeling and decision support, sustainable tourism, and sustainable financing.

NOAA offices presenting tools and case studies at ITMEMS3 included the Coral Reef Conservation Program, National Marine Sanctuary Program, and Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, among others. The Coastal Programs Division also participated actively in ITMEMS3. (Nov 2006)

For more information contact Alissa Barron.

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Coral Program Reports 16th U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting a Success

The 16th biannual meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (Task Force) was held the week of October 23 in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Over 200 people attended from seven U.S. states and territories and seven nations.

The meeting highlighted the ecological and management challenges facing Caribbean reefs, focusing on innovative solutions and partnership opportunities for achieving measurable management results in a region hard hit by decades of human and natural impacts.

The Task Force is co-chaired by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and the Department of the Interior. The CRCP is housed within the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. (Nov 2006)

For more information, contact Beth Dieveney.

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NOAA and Australia Publish Reef Manager's Guide to Coral Bleaching (Official NOAA Press Release)

NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) led the production of a new document entitled “A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching.”

Over 50 experts from 25 organizations contributed to the guide, including multiple NOAA offices, the Environmental Protection Agency, The World Conservation Union, The Nature Conservancy, and others.

The document, a product of a 2002 resolution by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, concludes that reef managers can play a key role before, during, and after bleaching events to help build resilient reef ecosystems in the face of changing climate conditions. The guide provides coral reef managers and scientists with the current information on effects and causes of coral bleaching, and provides pragmatic, science-based strategies for adaptive management of this threat to coral reef ecosystems.

Published by the Australian government, the guide was released last month in Washington, DC. (Nov 2006)

For more information, contact Roger Griffis.

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California Council Pledges Action to Protect Tijuana Estuary

The California Biodiversity Council's (CBC) visit to the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve in late September has already resulted in actions aimed at protecting the valuable estuary, which is threatened by heavy sedimentation from the Mexican side of the border, where 75 percent of the estuary's watershed lies.

The council, which includes representatives of federal, state, and local agencies with environmental responsibility, has established a committee to identify specific actions and funding to build sediment basins on both sides of the border, add package sewage plants in the San Bernardo community in Tijuana, and manage tires and trash on both sides of the border.

California State Parks, the agency that manages the Tijuana River NERR, has partnered with several other agencies to apply for two Environmental Protection Agency grants totaling $1.7 million dollars to improve conditions in Los Laureles Canyon, a major source of sedimentation in the estuary.

A number of other organizations became aware of Los Laureles through media reports of the CBC meeting and are asking for ways to help. Engineers Without Borders have pledged $50,000 to build a package sewage plant.

These efforts will help to reinforce the work being done by the reserve’s Coastal Training Program to improve land use practices within the City of Tijuana. In particular, the reserve has concentrated on helping San Bernardo, in the upper reaches Los Laureles Canyon, to become a model of sustainable development in Tijuana. 

With its non-profit partners and the California Coastal Conservancy, the reserve is working with the City of Tijuana to control erosion, replant slopes, introduce pervious paver roads, manage sewage disposal, and improve the quality of life in San Bernardo. (Nov 2006)

For more information, contact Pati Delgado.

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Public Notices for the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting

There will be opportunities for the public to participate in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting in the U.S. Virgin Islands from October 24-28th. These opportunities include both a public meeting and several public workshops. (Oct 2006)

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New Coral Reef Managment Guide Provides Strategies to Conserve World's Coral Reefs

Innovative strategies to conserve the world’s coral reefs are included in a new guide released by NOAA, the Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and The World Conservation Union. “A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching” will provide coral reef managers with the latest scientific information on the causes of coral bleaching and new management strategies for responding to this significant threat to coral reef ecosystems. "Coral reef managers can play a critical role in helping reefs survive coral bleaching events," said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "The reef manager's guide lays out key actions managers can take before, during and after bleaching events to help reduce impacts of bleaching and promote resilience of the reef ecosystem to help it recover from severe bleaching events." (Oct 2006)

 

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