Coral Reef Destruction: A Stakeholder Analysis and Interview Preparation

The Destruction of coral reefs in key areas around the world has inevitably piqued the interests and concerns of many. Efforts to survey and contain such destruction are manifested primarily in three central entities: federally-sanctioned organizations, state-sanctioned organizations, and non-profits. In Florida alone, several agencies and non-profit entities have maintained a strong presence over the years. Such organizations include:

Mission Blue: Mission Blue is perhaps the most relevant organization with regard to our goals (understanding the detrimental effects of humans on coral reef ecosystems and ultimately minimizing the root causes of such effects). They are a non-profit organization founded by marine biologist Sylvia Earle that lobbies for increased federal action regarding the protection of coral reef ecosystems. Their primary goal is to establish a formal system of “underwater national parks.” This would ultimately result in expanded governmental protection to endangered areas (including conservatory efforts such as reduced fishing, harvesting, and marine traffic). They designate their specific areas of interest as “Hope Spots” and note their immense importance to their respective surroundings and the world at large. According to the Mission Blue homepage, all Hope Spots are chosen on the basis of biodiversity, percentage of critically endangered or uncommon flora and fauna, ability to create lasting change, importance to local culture, and economic value. Several of these Hope Spots are located in coral reef ecosystems off the coast of Florida. See the image below, which displays a map of Hope Spots in the Western Atlantic and the Caribbean.

Image Credit: https://mission-blue.org/hope-spots/

Mission Blue also makes their goals for such Hope Spots very clear. Their website states, “Mission Blue works to rally local and international communities around support for Hope Spots with the ultimate goal of converting these areas into marine protected areas. Mission Blue’s vision is to increase official protection of the ocean from just over 6% today to 30% by 2030.” (See accompanying links for citation)

Perhaps two of the most prominent reef-based Hope Spots near the coast of Florida include those of Coastal Southeast Florida and the Bahamian Reefs.

SOURCES:

Scientists are trying to save coral reefs. Here’s what’s working.

Home — Mission Blue

Hope Spots — Mission Blue

INTERVIEW PREP:

The nature of Mission Blue’s work makes them the perfect subject for a potential stakeholder interview. Though their website lists short synopses of their work around the world, we’d like to dig deeper and find some hard statistical evidence backing their work. We are currently in the process of reaching out to the organization via the contact information listed on their webpage, and we have generated a list of questions for our first stakeholder interview. They are as follows.

1. Can you describe the extent to which humans have interfered with coral reef ecosystems off the coast of Florida? Do you believe that this destruction is emblematic of a larger problem around the world?
2. On your organization’s website, “Hope Spots” are said to be chosen on the basis of biodiversity, percentage of critically endangered or uncommon flora and fauna, ability to create lasting change, importance to local culture, and economic value. Which, of these five reasons, do you believe is the primary motivation for the classification of Florida’s offshore coral reefs as Hope Spots? Is there more than one?
3. (Referring to question 2) Do you have any statistical evidence to back such a reasoning? How was this evidence discovered? Did Mission Blue take an active role in discovering this evidence?
4. (Referring to Question 2) Is/are this/these cause(s) common in reef ecosystems around the world, or is Florida unique in comparison to other reef ecosystems?
5. Have any cultural trends in Florida (i.e. an influx in tourists or retirees) affected the health and safety of coral reefs in Florida?
6. Why are coral reefs in this area so critical to not only Florida’s own environment and economy, but to that of the entire world?

Using the information provided from our stakeholder interview as a launching pad for the future, we can further describe the nature of our problem as a “grand challenge” that exists on a global scale.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection: Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection is the primary state-funded entity that deals with coral reefs off the coast of Florida. They have employed several measures to aid in curtailing reef destruction. Perhaps one of their most robust initiatives exists within the “Skip the Straw” Program, which encompasses a voluntary pledge on behalf of Florida residents to reduce the use of plastic straws in daily life. These straws often end up as marine debris and can be ingested by various species of marine and coastal animals. The FDEP’s website indicates that “About 90% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have plastics in their stomachs [on a global scale]” (see below for relevant citation). It also states, “About 90% of trash in the oceans is made from plastic” (see below for relevant citation). Through initiatives such as “Skip the Straw,” voluntary cleanups, and social media campaigns, FDEP seeks to curtail one of the major detrimental factors we noted in our systems map — marine debris.

Graphic Credit: https://floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/STSFactSheet2019.pdf

SOURCES (HYPERLINKED):

Skip the Straw | Florida Department of Environmental Protection

10 Reasons to Skip the Straw

Marine Debris — Skip the Straw

INTERVIEW PREP

Though FDEP is a state-funded organization (likely with less passion driving their efforts) that focuses on multiple other initiatives outside of those concerning coral reefs and marine ecosystems, they remain a viable vehicle of knowledge for us as a group. What we are most concerned with is statistical data surrounding their “Skip the Straw” initiative. Their website urges its viewers to “take the pledge” and commit to the program, but it lacks hard numbers that display the amount of Floridians that have already enrolled in the program, and any noticeable progress that the initiative has made in helping to clean coastal reef ecosystems. The website’s front page merely gives an ideal, stating, “If every person in Florida took this pledge, we could together reduce pollution from plastic straws by approximately 2.35 million” (see above for relevant citation).

If we were able to assess how the initiative has done since its founding, we would have a means of quantifying the preexisting efforts to reduce marine debris. Using this as a launching pad for the future, we could subsequently craft our solution around these statistics. Below are potential questions for a future interview with FDEP.

1. When was the “Skip the Straw” Initiative founded? What was the motivation for the initiative’s birth?
2. (Referring to question 1) Was there a specific metric or statistic that drove the founding of the “Skip the Straw” Initiative? If so, what was it?
3. How many Floridians have already taken the pledge to “Skip the Straw?” Do these numbers exceed ecxpectations?
4. How have you tried to appeal to a wider audience in recent years? Is there any incentive to take the pledge?
5. How often have external factors affected participation in the program? For example, have recent hurricanes or COVID-19 correlated with increased participation in the initiative, or has there been a decline recently?
6. Have coral reefs been a focus of the program since its inception? What else has the FDEP done to address the problem of coral reef destruction off the coast of Florida?

Environmental Protection Agency: The EPA is perhaps the most critical federal entity with regard to research and preservation attempts on coral reef ecosystems in America. As a federally-funded organization, their efforts focus not only on Florida’s coral reef ecosystems, but also those of Hawaii and America’s territories. They have identified and reacted to coral reef destruction primarily through Clean Water Act Programs. Such programs include surveillance and action programs that utilize the coordinated efforts of several smaller governmental organizations (NOAA is one such example).

In describing the means by which coral reefs are assessed for damage, the EPA’s website states, “The sampling protocol includes measurements on reef fish, stony corals, sponges, gorgonian octocorals (soft corals), and other invertebrates, as well as documentation of coral diseases and bleaching, which are signs of stress. Many of the measurements are used to calculate indicators that represent the effects of human activity on the reef” (see below for relevant citation). The EPA utilizes a scale — from 1–6 — to measure the health of a particular reef ecosystem (with 1 being ideal conditions and 6 being dangerously poor conditions).

Source: https://www.epa.gov/coral-reefs/epa-research-about-coral-reefs#Water-Quality-Criteria

INTERVIEW PREP:

To complete our “multidimensional picture” of reef destruction in Florida and display how it is emblematic of a larger problem around the globe, we must assess what the EPA has done in the region. Their website lists the broad actions that the organization has taken to preserve coral reef ecosystems across the country, but we want to ultimately see how the EPA’s efforts in Florida have compared with those of, say, Mission Blue and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Using Florida as a “microcosm” of sorts, we can assess what work still needs to be done and how we, as non-government affiliated individuals, can help.

Potential Questions:

1. How involved has the EPA been in preservation efforts off the coast of Florida? Are Floridian coral reefs considered critical targets of Clean Water Act programs?
2. Has the EPA ever collaborated in a joint effort with state organizations and/or non-profits to aid in preservation attempts? If so, which organizations?
3. How much funding goes into the Coral Reef Task Force’s budget in the Florida region? Have there been efforts to increase this amount?
4. On the EPA’s website, a numerical scale (between 1–6) is used in determining the relative health of a coral reef ecosystem. Where do offshore Floridian reefs rank along such a scale, and how does this compare to the rankings of other US and global reef ecosystems?
5. Being a federally-owned and operated organization, the EPA will inevitably deal with troubles in reef ecosystems across the country. Is there anything peculiar/unusual about Florida’s reef ecosystems? Is there anything that makes them special? (i.e. certain species of flora and fauna, etc.)
6. Has the EPA measured any specific statistics that back the claim that Floridian coral reefs are on the decline? If so, which statistic(s) was/were key in determining the need for action in the area?

Other Stakeholders, as Mentioned in our “5 Who’s”:

Government Agencies

• Florida Department of Environmental Protection — Manages the Marine Park and works with the governmental authorities to keep the reefs healthy.
• USCRTF — the US Coral Reef Task Force was established by Presidential Executive Order 13089; works with other nations to protect, restore, and sustainably use coral reef ecosystems.
• DAR — (State of Hawai’i Division of Aquatic Resources) manages and conserves the state’s aquatic resources.

Environmental Action Groups — Non-profit organization groups that advocate for the protection of the coral reefs and do volunteer work to remove pollutants from the ecosystem. Mission Blue is one such group.

Scientists

• The Smith Lab of UC San Diego focuses on understanding the factors (natural, anthropogenic, physical & biological) that influence community structure in benthic marine ecosystems. Their study of coral reefs in Hawaii has revealed that corals are resilient to climate change and environmental factors without the interference of humans. They also monitor oceanic acidity levels near reefs to study how this affects coral colonies.
• Dr. Erin Muller’s team (MOTE) uses genotypes native to the Florida reef to restore it. Their nurseries have brought back over 76,000 corals to the ecosystem.)