CORAL REEF INITIATIVE
| REEFKEEPER GOAL: | To establish state-sponsored Coral Reef Initiative programs in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. |
| WHY: | To protect coral reefs based on a comprehensive program of resource management capacity building and public awareness, research and monitoring of reef conditions, and coastal zone management responsive to coral reef environmental needs. |
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Florida -- Puerto Rico --USVI |
FLORIDA
CORAL REEF INITIATIVE
TO SUPPORT REEFKEEPER'S POSITION:
| NAME: | Honorable Lawton Chiles |
| AGENCY: | Governor of Florida |
| ADDRESS: | The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399 |
| FAX: | |
| E-MAIL: |
PUERTO RICO
CORAL REEF INITIATIVE
TO SUPPORT REEFKEEPER'S POSITION:
| NAME: | Honorable Pedro Juan Rosello Gonzalez |
| AGENCY: | Governor of Puerto Rico |
| ADDRESS: | La Fortaleza - Apartado 82 San Juan, PR 00901 |
| FAX: | |
| NAME: | Honorable Roy Lester Schneider |
| AGENCY: | Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands |
| ADDRESS: | 2122 Kongens Gade St. Thomas, USVI 00801 |
| FAX: | |
| E-MAIL: |
CORAL REEF INITIATIVE
IN DEPTH
ReefKeeper International has submitted formal requests to the Governors of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands asking each of them to develop and adopt a formal policy document for a state-sponsored Coral Reef Initiative. We've also asked each of the Governors to establish an interagency coordinating committee to oversee, direct and promote the implementation of that Initiative, as has already been done for American Samoa, Hawaii, and other Pacific U.S. areas by their state-level governments.
Since 1995, the governments of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been represented at federally-hosted meetings of all U.S. states, commonwealths and territories with jurisdiction over coral reef areas for the purpose of defining and establishing a U.S. Coral Reef Initiative, its goals, and scope of action. Parallel to that activity, the United States and dozens of other nations formally adopted in 1995 a Call to Action and a Framework for Action which define the need, reasons, goals and scope for an International Coral Reef Initiative. In accordance with those groundbreaking documents, we are asking that the state-level governments of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands act in 1997 -- the International Year of the Coral Reef -- to adopt and pursue through an interagency coordinating committee their own state-sponsored Coral Reef Initiatives.
Irreplaceable coral reef habitats lie in waters within state jurisdiction off Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These precious natural resources are among the coral reef areas judged by an eminent panel of international coral reef scientists to be at imminent risk of total loss within the next 20 years if remedial actions are not immediately initiated. The International Coral Reef Initiative is seeking to prevent that.
As an absolute minimum, the adopted declaration for an International Coral Reef Initiative calls for a coordinated three-pronged program of resource management capacity-building and public awareness, research and monitoring of reef conditions, and coastal zone management responsive to coral reef environmental needs. We are asking the governments of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to formally adopt and establish the groundwork for pursuit of such a program for each of their coral habitats.
Although various agencies presently carry out regulatory functions that in some ways cover coral reef resource management and management of the coastal zone, those efforts are not coordinated and fall short of the actions needed to prevent the degradation and loss of Florida and U.S. Caribbean coral habitats to direct developmental impacts and water pollution. And although some coral reef habitats are designated as special protected areas under either federal or state-level programs, those designations fail to include many coral habitats, and they do not protect any coral habitats from the effects of detrimental activities on shore.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Florida each needs an inclusive state-sponsored Coral Reef Initiative to focus, channel, and coordinate the energies and actions of government agencies, research institutions, and non-government organizations towards a common goal of protection for all coral habitats within state-level jurisdiction. The clock is ticking for these coral habitats. They cannot afford to wait.
Therefore, ReefKeeper International is seeking immediate action from the Governors of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to initiate state-sponsored Coral Reef Initiatives. Specifically, we are asking each of them to develop a policy document and framework for action, and to establish a senior-level interagency coordinating committee to oversee that development.
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How to Help Florida -- Puerto Rico --USVI |
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