Office of the Secretary |
Contact:Hugh
Vickery
|
For Immediate Release:Oct. 2, 2003 |
202-501-1456r
|
Assistant Secretary Manson to Co-Chair Meeting
of Task Force to Protect and Restore Coral Reefs |
(COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS) -- Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Craig Manson will co-chair the 10th meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, Oct. 3-7, hosted by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. The meeting will focus on
implementing locally developed action plans in support of the National
Coral Reef Action Strategy produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration in conjunction with the Task Force. "Coral reefs are among
the most biologically rich and economically valuable ecosystems in the
world, but they are threatened by everything from pollution to overexploitation,"
Manson said. "This meeting of the Task Force will be a watershed
moment in our efforts to save coral reefs because we are moving from
the planning stage to actually determining what actions we will take
in the near future to help the reefs." "It is particularly
appropriate that this important meeting is taking place on Guam and
the Northern Marianas because their economies, like the economies of
so many tropical islands, receive significant benefits from healthy
coral reefs, including major fishery resources and tourism," Manson
said. Coral reefs face a growing
array of threats, including over-exploitation, habitat loss, pollution,
invasive species, diseases and climate change. The rapid decline and
loss of reefs has significant social, economic, and environmental consequences
in the United States and its territories as well as around the world. The Task Force will focus
on lessening human impacts on these ecosystems, restoring reefs, and
educating the public on the threats to reefs. It will also address international
trade in coral reef species. "In many ways, coral
reefs are the next rain forests in terms of the threat from human activities,"
Manson said. "Now is the time to take action to protect these beautiful
and biologically significant treasures." |