First of all let me thank the organisers of this regional workshop for inviting me to deliver the keynote address of this session on coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds. It is a pleasure to be back at the National Aquatic Resources Development and Research Agency (NARA) where 11 years ago I was tasked to build a research team to look into coastal marine ecosystems and in particular coral reefs. The work that has been done and is being carried out on coral reefs by Arjan Rajasuriya and his team at NARA, is a tribute to those initial efforts. Within the time allocated to me, I will attempt to give you some frank views emphasising on coral reefs which to a large extent could be applicable to mangroves and seagrass beds as well.
The concept of the need to manage critical marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds in South Asia, go back more than half a century (De Silva, 1985a,b and c; Ormond, 1985; Rajasuriya et al., 1995; Rajasuriya, 1992 and1994). Since then, the basic concept of the need to provide protection to stressed marine ecosystems and associated organisms have not changed. Several conferences, congresses, symposia and seminars have focused attention on the need to protect and to manage coral reefs of South Asia and else where. Vast sums of money and enormous numbers of scientific and other papers have been written on the subject. Inspite of all these, very little progress has actually been made at the ground level to achieve the goal of sustainability.
Coral reefs are under tremendous pressure from over-exploitation of resources, tourism development, pollution and other human related activities. They also face pressures from natural hazards such as storms, El Nino effect and population explosions of predators such as the "Crown of Thorns" Starfish (Acanthaster p/anci). A major obstacle to coral reef protection and management in developing countries can be attibuted to the lack of sustained political will, sufficient skilled manpower -particularly at management and implementation levels, and limited financial resources. To these we'have to add another dimension - time, which is fast running out as far as the coral reef ecosystems are concerned.
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If we are serious about ensuring the sustainability of o^ral reefs, we need to understand the constraints that have been mentioned and attempt to put whatever limited resources that are available to optimal use, within a limited time frame.
A major problem for coral reef protection and management has been the difficulty of getting all parties concerned the scientists, the stake holders, policy makers and politicians to work together to attain what should be the common goal - that of sustainable development.
It is natural for a scientist to seek as much information as possible before drawing what to him is a valid conclusion. Politician elected for a specific period seeks answers in the shortest possible time - to him satisfying the needs of those who supported him and will support him in future is utmost. To many stakeholders exploiting resources, time means money. These are some of the problems decision makers, technocrats and managers of the developing world have to face. It is further compounded by the other constraints that have already been mentioned earlier such as the lack of skilled personnel, financial resources and time. Management oriented research and Integrated Coastal Management (IWICM, 1996) tries to compromise and overcome these problems amidst this complex web of requests and requirements.
Science cannot answer all the questions that are being asked, but could attempt to do so them based on;
a) the vast knowledge that has already been accumulated and past experiences, and b) new knowledge that could be gained through research.
Management oriented research attempts to find the best possible solution using a holistic and integrated approach within the constraints that have been mentioned previously. It is now recongnised that a precautionary and anticipatory approach should be applied in the decision making process where sufficient information is lacking (IWICM, 1996).