Tools and Publications
Healthy Reefs Handbook
This user-friendly publication will provide an overall vision of what a healthy Mesoamerican Reef should look like under present-day conditions. The Handbook will feature a set of “yardsticks” in the form of ecological and socio-economic indicators, with specific threshold values to gauge reef health over time, including signals of further disturbance or recovery. This publication is intended to be a framework for the dissemination and adoption of “common currency” health metrics for the Mesoamerican Reef. This product is under development.
Indicator Field Guide
The Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Indicator Field Guide was created as a visual field tool to help understand key indicators of reef health. The Field Guide contains a series of cards that are designed to be laminated and used in the field as a quick, easy, and waterproof reference. The front of each card has photos to provide visual cues and/or examples for each indicator. The text printed on the reverse side of each card provides a definition of the indicator, why it is measured, and further describes the pictorial examples found on the front. We will develop additional field cards as information becomes available.
There are nine indicator guide cards so far:
- Rugosity, Coral Recruitment
- Coral Cover
- Coral Colony Size
- Algae, Predation
- Coral Mortality (recent vs. old dead)
- Coral Mortality (standardizing partial mortality estimates)
- Coral Bleaching
- Coral Disease
- Fish Families
Report Card of Reef Health
This will be a letter “grading” of the condition of the Mesoamerican Reef based on commonly agreed ecological and socio-economic indicators, presented in an aggregated, easy-to-understand fashion. This product will be geared towards decision-makers, managers, and the public. The Report Card will be based on an integrated index of reef health. Indexes have been successfully tested in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and can be effective management tools. Single number figures based on scientific data — especially when accompanied by qualitative scores (e.g., “excellent health,” “good health,” “poor health,” etc.) — are useful to foster greater public understanding and political support. This product is under development.
Triennial ‘State of the Reef’ Reports
Based on the products above and other inputs, comprehensive State of the
Reef reports will be released every three years, prepared jointly with the
Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of the MBRS Project, a founding partner of
the Initiative. The preparation of these important reports has been
endorsed by the Directive Committee of the MBRS Project, on behalf of the
Central American Commission of Environment and Development. As the first
publication of its kind in the region, the State of the Reefs reports will
provide a scientific platform to raise public awareness, and stakeholder
action toward sound decision making to protect the Reef.
