Indonesia's corals threatened by climate change

By Sugita Katyal and Adhityani Arga

JAKARTA (Reuters) - It is a country with some of the world's richest coral reefs.

But scientists fear many of Indonesia's psychedelic reefs, already significantly damaged by blast fishing and pollution, now face an even graver threat: global warming.

Over the years, rising sea temperatures have led to severe coral bleaching in some of the most spectacular reefs off the palm-fringed islands of Sulawesi and Bali that are home to exotic fish like the brightly colored clown fish and scorpion fish.

And environmentalists say if quick steps are not taken to stop the destruction, many reefs across the sprawling archipelago of about 17,000 islands could disappear in the next few decades.

The state of coral around the world will be part of the discussions at next month's U.N. climate talks on the Indonesian resort island Bali where about 190 countries will gather to try to hammer out a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, a global pact aimed at fighting global warming.

"Even the lower end of temperature change, even 1-2 degrees, will lead to significant coral die-off for a variety of reasons such as bleaching and submersion," Glenn Prickett, an official from Conservation International, told Reuters.

"You already have the impact of the assault on coral from destructive fishing practices and pollution. It will become worse with global warming."

Indonesia, with a coastline of some 57,000 km (35,420 miles), has at least 2.6 million hectares (6.425 million acres) of coral reefs, or about 25 percent of coral reefs in the region and 8 percent of the world's coral reefs, according to the World Bank.

DELICATE ECOSYSTEM

Millions of people make a living from Indonesia's coastal and marine sector, and in particular the small-scale fisheries supported by coral reef ecosystems.

"Indonesia is at the centre of the coral triangle. The possibility of coral bleaching is so big. If you have (an increase of) 5 degrees up, corals will be gone," said Jatna Supriatna, director of Conservation International Indonesia.

"And that will impact the economy."

The Coral Triangle -- known as the Amazon of the sea -- stretches from the central part of Indonesia to the Solomon Islands, and up from the Indian Ocean across the Philippines to the Pacific Ocean.

Coral reefs around the world are in peril with people damaging the delicate marine ecosystems and endangering some 1 million species of animals and plants that call the coral home.

Scientists estimate over 27 percent of the world's coral has been permanently lost. They estimate that another 30 percent will disappear over the next three decades.