The western stretch of the Indian Ocean’s coral reefs is on a verge of extinction by 2070. The threat is being posed by the increasing temperatures at the coastline as well as overfishing that might lead to the collapse of the coastline ecosystem.
According to David Obura, a Kenyan marine ecologist; “When an ecosystem collapses, we might still see individual fish or corals but the whole system is no longer effective in supporting either marine biodiversity or communities who are dependent on it,”
The extinction threat does not only affect the marine species but also the coastline communities such as Madagascar, Seychelles, among other Indian ocean coastline societies. These societies mainly depend on fishing and tourism. With the collapse of their coral reef ecosystem, the future of their tourism is in question. Even though the coral reefs in question only make up 5% of the total coral reef on the planet, it remains an immense threat to the Indian Ocean coastline.
According to Gabriel Grimsditch, a marine ecosystem expert “humans can design a network of effective and equitable marine protected areas or locally managed marine areas to protect coral reefs.”
The threat comes in timely after the world summit that was held in Scotland to seek a way forward to reduce global warming.
