Asia-Pacific nations agree to protect reef network

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Six Asia-Pacific countries agreed Friday on a wide-ranging plan to protect one of the world's largest networks of coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate overfishing and improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal communities.

The agreement at the World Oceans Conference creates a voluntary management plan for an area defined as the Coral Triangle, which spans Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor. It accounts for a third of the world's coral reefs and 35 percent of coral reef fish species.

Several governments committed money to the plan during the two-day meeting, including the United States, which pledged $40 million over five years.

The agreement, known as the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security, follows a symbolic memorandum signed earlier in the meeting by government officials from 80 countries. It calls for improved efforts to protect oceans from overdevelopment and illegal fishing.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iSUN0r9EnsgSkdGCaJmUnLQ0QLHAD986MLH00

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Good sign, although it may already be too late.

:-(

[CatholicEdHead]

1. Good luck

they may have a tough time justifying those funds in the future with the continuing economic downturn.