Status of coral reefs in Polynesia Mana node countries: Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Kiribati, Tonga, Tokelau and Wallis and Futuna

Abstract

Status of coral reefs in the Polynesia Mana node is predominantly healthy. There are 6733 km2 of reefs scattered over 347 islands. Most (90%) are healthy, 5% have been destroyed or are at a critical stage and 5% are under threat;Reefs have been degraded around populated areas of Rarotonga (Cook Islands), Tahiti and Moorea (French Polynesia) and South Tarawa (Kiribati);Coral reefs support the livelihoods of Polynesian populations through subsistence fishing in all countries and through tourism and black pearl industries in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands; The main threats to the reefs are global warming for the remote reefs and land- based pollution for reefs near urban areas. Dynamite fishing still occurs in Wallis and Futuna;Reefs are mostly healthy in Wallis and Futuna, Tuamotu-Gambier and the Marquesas Archipelagos of French Polynesia; Reefs have largely recovered from past bleaching events in Phoenix Islands and Tarawa in Kiribati, and reefs are recovering from crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) outbreaks in Rarotonga (Cook Islands) and from a cyclone in Niue; Reefs are facing a major COTS outbreak in the Society Archipelago of French Polynesia; and Socioeconomic assessments are now being implemented in the region, in parallel with ecological monitoring, to support coral reef management.