Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, AU

This book aims to help people manage coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems; especially to solve problems that flow from nearby catchment (watershed) areas. Such catchment areas may be adjacent to the coral reef, or include areas a long way away and outside the jurisdiction and control of the coastal manager. This book introduces ways to reduce some of that damage through cooperation with people and industries upstream, based on the experiences of many coastal managers around the world.

This publication documents the devastating effects of hurricanes on coral reefs in the Caribbean in 2005, the hottest year on record. This report catalogues the impacts of the warming and storms during 2005 and 2006. The valuable information in this book underscores that urgent actions are needed to assist reefs in recovery by focusing on natural resistance and resilience as well as removing threats posed by human activities that slow or even prevent recovery from these damaging events.