Researchers survey bleached corals around Koh Tao island in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani on June 14, 2024. Credit: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images
Marine protected areas are designed to conserve coral reefs and other ocean ecosystems by restricting human activity within their boundaries. But most don’t account for one of the most severe and widespread threats to marine life that originates on land: sewage.
A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Queensland in Australia found that more than 70 percent of marine protected areas worldwide are contaminated by untreated, or poorly treated, wastewater.
In places with extensive coral reefs, like the Coral Triangle—a 2 million square mile marine area spanning six countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea—contamination is even more widespread.
According to the study, published this month in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, more than 90 percent of coastal protected areas in the Coral Triangle are affected by high levels of sewage pollution—up to 10 times highter than in nearby unprotected waters.
“What we found was striking,” said David E. Carrasco Rivera, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. “In region after region, the areas set aside for conservation were actually receiving more pollution than the areas with no protection at all.”
Many marine protected areas are established near coastlines to help fragile and overburdened ecosystems that people depend on for food, tourism and livelihoods recover, rebuild and thrive. But their nearshore locations make them particularly vulnerable to contamination that can undermine their purpose, said Amelia Wenger, co-author of the study and global water pollution lead at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global nonprofit dedicated to protecting wildlife, based at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
“Even a perfectly managed marine protected area will fail to achieve benefits for conservation and for people if wastewater keeps flowing in from upstream,” she said. More of this article (Inside Climate News) - link - more like this (reefs) - link - more like this (sewage) - link - more like this (Queensland) - link
A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Queensland in Australia found that more than 70 percent of marine protected areas worldwide are contaminated by untreated, or poorly treated, wastewater.
In places with extensive coral reefs, like the Coral Triangle—a 2 million square mile marine area spanning six countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea—contamination is even more widespread.
According to the study, published this month in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, more than 90 percent of coastal protected areas in the Coral Triangle are affected by high levels of sewage pollution—up to 10 times highter than in nearby unprotected waters.
“What we found was striking,” said David E. Carrasco Rivera, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. “In region after region, the areas set aside for conservation were actually receiving more pollution than the areas with no protection at all.”
Many marine protected areas are established near coastlines to help fragile and overburdened ecosystems that people depend on for food, tourism and livelihoods recover, rebuild and thrive. But their nearshore locations make them particularly vulnerable to contamination that can undermine their purpose, said Amelia Wenger, co-author of the study and global water pollution lead at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global nonprofit dedicated to protecting wildlife, based at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
“Even a perfectly managed marine protected area will fail to achieve benefits for conservation and for people if wastewater keeps flowing in from upstream,” she said. More of this article (Inside Climate News) - link - more like this (reefs) - link - more like this (sewage) - link - more like this (Queensland) - link
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