This webinar originally aired on 11 December 2014.

Dr. Jackson presented on the new report Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012. The report is a result of a three-year joint effort of the International Coral Reef Initiative’s (ICRI) Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). It is the most detailed and comprehensive study of its kind published to date and is the result of the work of nearly 200 experts over the course of three years. Average Caribbean coral cover declined by half but varies greatly among locations with some sites showing little or no decline. The principal drivers of reef degradation so far have been local impacts of overfishing and coastal development that are potentially reversible by local action. Banning destructive fishing and strengthening coastal zone management would increase resilience of Caribbean reefs to the inevitable future impacts of climate change. Download the report at www.iucn.org/knowledge/publications_doc/publications/?uPubsID=5035. Webinar cosponsored by the EBM Tools Network and the National MPA Center.

This webinar was presented by Jeremy Jackson of the Smithsonian Institution and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and it was cosponsored by the EBM Tools Network and the National MPA Center.