Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




WATER WORLD
Managing reefs to benefit coastal communities
by Staff Writers
Townsville, Australia (SPX) Dec 05, 2014


Fishing boat. Image courtesy Christina Hicks.

Coral reefs provide a range of benefits, such as food, opportunities for income and education, but not everyone has the same access to them, according to a new study conducted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

The researchers examined how people from 28 fishing communities in Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles benefit from the marine environment.

For many years conservation in developing countries has been based on the assumption that improvements in ecosystem conditions, such as increasing coral reef fish biomass, will benefit the community as a whole.

But Dr Christina Hicks, a social scientist, says this is approach is too simplistic.

"Increased supply tends to benefit the elite, not the community as a whole," Dr Hicks says.

"We need to look at the social and economic access mechanisms that would enable a wider group of people to benefit from reefs and then develop policies based on that information," she says. Study co-author Professor Josh Cinner from the Coral CoE says the focus on increasing the supply of benefits isn't enough.

"We need to pay more attention to how that benefit is distributed and how it is accessed by different people within a community," Professor Cinner says.

The researchers argue that policy makers need a more inclusive approach to managing coral reefs, which includes a focus on improving wellbeing.

"We tend to focus on economic growth because it is easy to measure, but this should be greatly expanded to include the way people can share in the benefits that flow from reefs," Dr Hicks says.

Social, institutional, and knowledge mechanisms mediate diverse ecosystem service benefits from coral reefs by Christina C. Hicks and Joshua E. Cinner is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WATER WORLD
Hope for corals as baby reef-builders cope with acidifying oceans
Townsville, Australia (SPX) Dec 04, 2014
While the threat of coral bleaching as a result of climate change poses a serious risk to the future of coral reefs world wide, new research has found that some baby corals may be able to cope with the negative effects of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification, which is a direct consequence of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, is expected to have a deleterious effect on many m ... read more


WATER WORLD
Carnegie Mellon Unveils Lunar Rover "Andy"

Why we should mine the moon

Young Volcanoes on the Moon

Russia Preparing Joint Moon Exploration Agreement With EU

WATER WORLD
Traces of possible Martian biological activity inside a meteorite

Meteorite stirs life-on-Mars debate

NASA's Orion Flight Test and the Journey to Mars

Orion Test Flight a Critical Step on NASA's Journey to Mars

WATER WORLD
NASA's deep space capsule poised for 2nd launch bid

NASA counts down key Orion test flight

Rocket woes delay deep space Orion launch until Friday

ISS astronauts will have to wait until April for espresso

WATER WORLD
Service module of China's returned lunar orbiter reaches L2 point

China Launches Second Disaster Relief Satellite

China expects to introduce space law around 2020

China launches new remote sensing satellite

WATER WORLD
NASA's CATS Eyes Clouds, Smoke and Dust from the Space Station

3-D Printer Creates First Object in Space on ISS

Soyuz docks at Space Station; Expedition 42 joins crew

Italy's first female astronaut heads to ISS in Russian craft

WATER WORLD
Soyuz Installed at Baikonur, Expected to Launch Wednesday

Launch of European Ariane-5 Space Rocket From Kourou Postponed

Japan launches rocket carrying asteroid probe

Go-ahead given for Ariane 5 dual-payload mission

WATER WORLD
'Mirage Earth' exoplanets may have burned away chances for life

Stardust Not Likely to Block Planet Portraits

Ground-based detection of exoplanets

Ground-Based Detection Paves Way to Remote Sensing of Small Exoplanets

WATER WORLD
See it, touch it, feel it

Chemists fabricate novel rewritable paper

Space travel is a bit safer than expected

Penn Research Shows Way to Design 'Digital' Metamaterials




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.