Healthy People
Economic Well-being Indicators
Economic activity is often a driving force or pressure on ecosystem health. Economic indicators can help identify those pressures that are having the greatest impact on reef ecosystem health and/or those that have the greatest likelihood to respond to human intervention. The major economic activities in the Mesoamerican Reef Ecosystem (MAR) include tourism, agriculture, fishing/aquaculture, and manufacturing. The region has over one million people living in the watersheds and coastal areas. Poverty alleviation through economic development is a major concern of the nations’ governments.
Several of the most important economic activities (tourism, fishing, aquaculture) depend on maintaining a healthy reef. Thus, in order to sustain the economic activities that support people we must maintain reef ecosystem health. On the other hand, some economic activities also degrade reef ecosystem health. Thus, there are economic indicators that indicate potential threats to both economic development and reef ecosystem health, and others that indicate economic development at the expense of reef ecosystem health. We would like to be able to demonstrate linkages between good reef ecosystem health and good economic indicators.
Specific issues include:
• What are the main economic activities that have a direct impact on the health and integrity of the MAR? At what scale(s) do they operate in the MAR?
• Can we use indicators to guide sustainable development and ensure long-term reef health?
