So, exactly how bad is coral degradation? For some of us who do not live near the coast, or explore coral reefs, or catch up on news about environmental problems,  we  may not really have a perception of the extent of coral degradation. Afterall, coral reef degradation is not a highly visible issue, unlinke nuclear power plant accidents or oil spills. And according to Xhuk-Ling Law & Tao (2003) in the book Conservation Psychology, overall the public has a tendency to feel that environmental threats have a greater effect on a global scale than on the local environmental scale. However, as we proceed on to Local Threats, we will see that there is a substantial number of local threats to coral degradation, and a lot of them are causing a great deal of damage, possibly even more than global threats.

So, statistics! Let’s return to the question: how bad is the coral degradation? According to Reefs at Risk Revisited, more than 60% of the world’s reeds are under immediate and direct threat from one or more local factors. Of the local human pressures, overfishing is the most impactful activity, and affects more than 55% of the global reefs.

If we add in global threats like global warming, to the local threats, the percentage of the world’s reefs being viewed as threatened is a stunning 75%.

And the place where local threats are most severe to coral reefs? Southeast Asia.  This is where almost 95% of reefs are threatened, and approximately 50% are categorized as being in the very high threat. Within Southeast Asia, Indonesia , which is behind Australia in terms of the total area of coral reefs, has the largest area of threatened reef.  I will be touching on a case study about coral reefs management in Indonesia under Case Study.

Additionally, if we compare across time, a 2004 study estimated that since 1950s, a 20% of global reefs have been destroyed beyond any chance of recovery – which is a tragic loss all of us bear.