I've handed the reins of my blog over to Mark Avery for most of June. Mark's sharing the successes and challenges of saving nature around the world in the run up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit.

I wish there were a tropical coral reef along the south coast of England. If there were, I’d learn to dive and spend loads of time learning to recognise and to understand the complex fish, mollusc, and coral communities. The four days I spent exploring coral reefs, in Kenya and Australia, stay with me as rare insights into a hidden, magical and beautiful world. I’d pay good money, quite a lot of it, to have those experiences again close to home.

Coral reefs, like the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, are major tourist attractions so it’s not just me who will pay to visit them. But they have a range of other uses to us – they provide ‘ecosystem services’ such as food and coastal protection. Although they occupy far less than 1% of the earth’s surface, coral reefs help to feed, protect and provide income for more than 7% of the world population and these natural ecosystem ‘services’ are valued at around £250bn every year.

When I snorkelled over the Great Barrier Reef and saw a clown fish it was worth billions of pounds to me – I had found Nemo! The same trip produced turtles, giant clams and a breath-taking diversity of weird and wonderful marine life. 

If you want to experience the amazing beauty of life on this blue planet then spend a day on a coral reef. For me, it rates higher than a rainforest any day; you get to float instead of having to walk, the wildlife approaches you rather than flees, and the diversity, complexity and beauty of the natural world is laid out in front of you in all shapes, sizes and bright colours. You’ll be hooked I’m sure, as you can probably see that I was.

But, and it’s a shame there has to be a ‘but’, but there is a ‘but’ – go soon or you might miss it. Coral reefs are highly threatened. A global assessment in 2008 regarded a third of reef-building corals as being threatened with extinction. Last year a leading scientist went further and suggested that all corals may be lost by the end of the century

Corals are very sensitive indicators of global oceanic changes. We aren’t losing them because we are knocking them down, building on top of them or physically wrecking them in some other straightforward way – in fact coral reefs have been well protected by National Parks and other mechanisms designed to protect rare and special habitats. The threats to coral reefs are directly linked to the way that you and I, and our grandparents have lived on this planet. Small increases in ocean temperatures and small increases in acidity are leading to die offs of corals around the world and these are expected to increase in frequency and extent in the future. That’s why coral reefs may be the first major ecosystem to disappear at our hands.

That time when I revved my engine to nip past a car on a busy road, and the industrial revolution, both contributed (the latter rather more than the former) to the demise of the most wonderful of collections of life on Earth. The diversity of life on a coral reef is a mysterious beauty, but its ugly demise is no mystery – we know why it’s happening. 

Two hours down the road from Rio, delegates at the forthcoming Rio+20 conference could take a look at what may be lost if we don’t find a more sustainable way to live on Earth. Surely sustainable living has to be about living on this planet and letting the corals survive too.

The UK should be leading the move to a fair and green economy, not going backwards on its commitments. We are asking as many MPs as possible to sign the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition’s Rio Declaration to commit to a sustainable future. Step and ask your MP to support the Rio-UK Declaration.

Dr Mark Avery is a former Conservation Director of the RSPB and now is a writer on environmental matters. We’ve asked Mark to write these 20 essays on the run up to the Rio+20 conference.  His views are not necessarily those of the RSPB.  Mark writes a daily blog about UK nature conservation issues.

  • Peter - thanks for the comments and experience of coral reefs.  

    As far as attendance at Rio is concerned I think it depends what comes out of it.  A great result and lots of progress would justify all those air miles and all that chatter.  If nothing changes then it is more difficult to justify. i know that RSPB attendance at the last Rio meeting (not me!) almost certainly made a difference and i would hoipe that the RSPB and other vocal and convincing BirdLife International staff will be thee next week too.  But it's always a judgement call - is it worth going? It's always easier to decide in retrospect than in advance.  But if you aren't there then you can't make a difference.

  • Yes. My childhood home was in Kenya and our summer holidays were at Tiwi south of the Likoni ferry from Mombasa. I can only deeply endorse the sentiments here as the reefs are already a shadow of their former pristine glory; I used to bather in their multi coloured glory, something I am lucky enough to remember along with a deserted Serengeti etc (apart from a million wildebeast, elephant roaming free etc).

    I do ask why 50,000 delegates need to go to Rio; we know what we have to do; reduce our emissions; its our lifestyle stupid ! After 20 years of this I do somewhat dispair at the well paid circus the environment movement has become. Video conferencing , frugality etc ?