“Benthic” refers to the bottom of the sea.
In an interview following the Micronesia Challenge presentation on the third day of 26th Pacific Islands Environment Conference at the Saipan World Resort yesterday, Castro said based on the monitoring conducted for the past seven years, “we have achieved 18 percent of the effective conservation” of the 30 percent of near-shore marine resources as set out by the Micronesian Challenge.
Castro said the CNMI is now working on the remaining 12 percent by addressing land-based sources of pollution through the watershed approach which includes re-vegetation and drainage repairs.
On Saipan, Castro said they are focusing on the Laolao Bay watershed.
Launched by Palau, Micronesia Challenge aims to effectively conserve 30 percent of near-shore marine resources and 20 percent of terrestrial resources in the region by 2020.
Besides Palau and the CNMI, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Guam have joined the initiative.
Former Division of Environmental Quality marine biologist Peter Houk said to determine if they are meeting the Micronesia Challenge’s goals, impact sites and reference sites are designated for monitoring.
The CNMI coral team focuses on Laolao Bay as reference site where in-water coral surveys are conducted.
At reference sites, there is lower runoff and lower land-based pollution.
At impact sites, there is a higher level of land-based pollution effects and, as a result, these sites have less diversity and the coral reef has slow recovery.
After natural disturbances like typhoons, the team will look at how long the reef recovers.
This is one way of determining how conservation is being achieved.
Another way is by comparing the health of corals at impact sites with reference sites.
