§ Mr. HawkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to report his assessment of the environmental damage to coral reefs following his recent visit to India and the Maldives. [75543]
§ Mr. Prescott[holding answer 9 March 1999]: During my visit to the Maldives, I was able to see for myself some of the damage to the coral reefs there, particularly the evidence of the coral bleaching event recorded during April to June last year. This was the worst ever recorded in the Maldives and affected some 95 per cent. of the reefs. On one of the sites that I was shown, over 35 per cent. of the corals were bleached and approximately 40 per cent. were dead.
I was also shown a reef that had been mined for use in the construction of the airport 30 years ago (traditionally in the Maldives, coral has been used as a building material). The extraction of coral had removed the upper 0.5m of reef framework, leaving a bare, flat surface of broken rubble and unconsolidated sediment and had resulted in a loss of live coral cover and associated reef fish. The area covered by live corals was less than 3 per cent. compared with 35 per cent. on nearby unmined reefs.
A BBC crew joined me on these dives and recorded much of what I was shown. The resulting film report was transmitted on BBC News programmes around the world, confirming the point that I had set out to make; that there are clear links between climate change, oceans and land-based sources of pollution.
I intend to continue to highlight this issue and to press for improvement in international co-ordination on oceans matters when I attend the Commission on Sustainable Development in New York next month.
While I was in the Maldives, I was also able to announce continuing UK support for the South Asia region of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. This will evaluate the sustainability of coral reefs; raise community level awareness of coral reef status and resource management issues; and establish regional capability to collect critical monitoring data on coral reefs, coral reefs resource-use and related livelihoods. Coral reef monitoring programmes at key sites will develop a national coral reef database in each country. The programme will provide a foundation for maximising sustainable benefits from coral reef resources for coastal communities, thereby improving livelihoods in coral reef areas in South Asia.