Integrated ocean and coastal management for measures of mass coral breaching

Abstract

Healthy oceans and coastal areas supply invaluable water and oxygen to people and secure eradication of poverty, supply of food, employment of people, tourism and protection from natural disasters. It is important to establish an integrated ocean and coastal management system to sustain the conservation, restoration and utilization of the ocean and coastal areas with various stakeholders’ proactive participation. Firstly, we described the status of the world and Japanese implementation of integrated ocean and coastal management, and analyzed role of the management system as means of solving problems. Secondly, taking the implementation of the basic plan of ocean policy of Taketomi Town as an example, important components for implementation of measures for the mass coral breaching were described. Those measures were, countermeasures based on sound understanding of nature, stakeholders participation and enforcement of capacity building with enforcement of institutional arrangements. Furthermore, the importance of networking efforts inside and outside the region as horizontal expansion were stressed. The measures should not be limited as regional efforts, but as a project of All-Japan as well as an advanced example of the international efforts to tackle with mass coral breaching in the world.