Session: S-138
Management of Sustainable Coral Reef Tourism under the Climate Change Crisis

Most tropical countries, particularly the Southeast Asia (SEA) has high economic values of marine and coastal ecosystems, especially coral reefs. The high biodiversity of coral reefs and associated ecosystems provide great ecological services to coastal communities. Coral reef tourism is a very valuable service that contributes economic benefits to the nations. Given case studies of coral reef tourism in SEA countries, they have been... [ view more ]

Most tropical countries, particularly the Southeast Asia (SEA) has high economic values of marine and coastal ecosystems, especially coral reefs. The high biodiversity of coral reefs and associated ecosystems provide great ecological services to coastal communities. Coral reef tourism is a very valuable service that contributes economic benefits to the nations. Given case studies of coral reef tourism in SEA countries, they have been developed over the past decades in order to comply with growing of tourism industry. Unfortunately, rapid development of coral reef tourism with unsustainable management may lead to severe degradation of coral reef ecosystem and loss of marine biodiversity. It is recognized that natural disturbances of global climatic change, such as elevated seawater temperature, also have negative impacts. As coral reef tourism is strongly dependent upon the ecosystem health, maintaining the ecosystem services is very important to ensure sustainability of marine tourism. Scientific knowledge plays an important role for understanding coral reef ecosystems and how to sustain their functions. Participation of local communities and stakeholders is also required for enhancing effective sustainable tourism management. In this symposium, scientists and managers working in SEA countries are gathered to present their experiences from research, management, monitor and conservation aspects, focusing on coral reef tourism. Some lessons learned from the SEA region will be highlighted, including capacity enhancement for monitoring and research, community-based management and marine protected areas.