West Indies Pacific reef in danger of collapsing

New research warns coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean could disappear completely in the next 50 years if urgent action is not taken.

The study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability on December 6, was led by the Cordio East Africa Ocean Institute, led by founder David Obura, in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For the first time, scientists have assessed the vulnerability of individual reefs across the vast western waters of the Indian Ocean, and identified key threats.

A biologist examines a coral reef in the western Indian Ocean.

Obura's team warned that coral reefs off Africa's east coast and along island nations such as Mauritius and the Seychelles face "complete and irreversible collapse" over the next five decades due to Warming sea temperatures and overexploitation.

"The find is quite serious! There is nowhere in the area where corals live intact. All of them have degraded somewhat and that will continue," Obura told AFP.

The team assessed 11,919 square kilometers of coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean (about 5% of the total global coral area) and said the area surrounds picturesque island nations, including Mauritius and the Seychelles. , the Comoros and Madagascar - home to many famous eco-tourism destinations, are most at risk of collapse.

Corals only cover a very small part of the ocean floor, about 0.2%, but they are home to at least a quarter of marine plant and animal species. In addition to anchoring ocean ecosystems, they provide protein, create jobs and protect hundreds of millions of people worldwide from storms and coastal erosion.

Coral reefs provide shelter for a wide variety of marine life. 

"Healthy coral reefs are valuable. Their loss is a double blow to biodiversity, as well as all the coastal economies that depend on it," Obura stressed.

Climate change is the biggest threat to overall coral health in the western Indian Ocean. The oceans absorb more than 90% of excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions and create massive marine heat waves that push many coral species past their limits.

In October, the largest-ever global survey of coral health found that global warming, combined with pollution and explosive fishing, has wiped out 14% of coral reefs. coral reefs in the world from 2009 to 2018.