TY - JOUR
T1 - Untapped policy avenues to protect coral reef ecosystems
AU - Carlson, Rachel R.
AU - Foo, Shawna A.
AU - Burns, John H.R.
AU - Asner, Gregory P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the Lenfest Ocean Program, and the Dorrance Family Foundation.
Funding Information:
Similarly, the Coastal ?one Management Act (C?MA) uses a “carrot and stick” approach to incentivize nonpoint source mitigation. States with federally approved Coastal ?one Management Programs can use federal grants under C?MA Section 306 for the preservation and restoration of priority coastal areas like coral reefs (58). Furthermore, under the Coastal ?one Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, coastal zone management programs are required to develop and implement Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs or they will lose federal funding under C?MA Section 306 and CWA Section 319 (59). Nonpoint pollution control along the coast should target coral reef areas to mitigate important pollution sources like agricultural or urban runo 言. Federal funding often activates par-t nerships across sectors to address land-sea runo ? (for success stories, see: https://www.epa.gov/nps/success-stories-about-restoring-water-bodies-impaired-nonpoint-source-pollution). In sum: ● States should target priority coral reefs in both Coastal ?one Management Programs and Nonpoint Source Program Plans to activate federal funding (C?MA Section 306(a) and CWA Section 319 grants) toward reducing land-sea runo 言. ● Scientists can develop research surrounding priority watersheds already listed in State plans and identify reefs that should be included in the future.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
PY - 2022/12/6
Y1 - 2022/12/6
N2 - Coral reefs are experiencing severe decline, and urgent action is required at local and global scales to curb ecosystem loss. Establishing new regulations to protect corals, however, can be time consuming and costly, and it is therefore necessary to leverage existing legal instruments, such as policies originally designed to address terrestrial rather than marine activities, to prevent coral reef degradation. Focusing on the United States, but drawing on successful examples worldwide, we present actionable pathways to increase coral protections under legislation that was originally designed to advance clean freshwater, safe drinking water, and emergency management. We identify specific legal policies and procedures (e.g., industrial permit limits, nonpoint source management incentives, and floodplain restoration programs) that can curb coral reef pollution and can be extended to other countries with similar regulations in place. Coral reef practitioners should consider a broad array of currently underused, actionable, and intersecting environmental policies that can be applied to mitigate coral stress.
AB - Coral reefs are experiencing severe decline, and urgent action is required at local and global scales to curb ecosystem loss. Establishing new regulations to protect corals, however, can be time consuming and costly, and it is therefore necessary to leverage existing legal instruments, such as policies originally designed to address terrestrial rather than marine activities, to prevent coral reef degradation. Focusing on the United States, but drawing on successful examples worldwide, we present actionable pathways to increase coral protections under legislation that was originally designed to advance clean freshwater, safe drinking water, and emergency management. We identify specific legal policies and procedures (e.g., industrial permit limits, nonpoint source management incentives, and floodplain restoration programs) that can curb coral reef pollution and can be extended to other countries with similar regulations in place. Coral reef practitioners should consider a broad array of currently underused, actionable, and intersecting environmental policies that can be applied to mitigate coral stress.
KW - coast
KW - coral
KW - environmental policy
KW - pollution
KW - runoff
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2117562119
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2117562119
M3 - Article
C2 - 36459644
AN - SCOPUS:85143475344
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 119
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 49
M1 - e2117562119
ER -