This book aims to help people manage coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems; especially to solve problems that flow from nearby catchment (watershed) areas. Such catchment areas may be adjacent to the coral reef, or include areas a long way away and outside the jurisdiction and control of the coastal manager. This book introduces ways to reduce some of that damage through cooperation with people and industries upstream, based on the experiences of many coastal managers around the world. A catchment area is defined as all the land that channels rainwater and groundwater into a river or stream, that then delivers water to coastal areas, in this case areas that contain coral reefs. The term catchment is often interchangeable with watershed, which is particularly used in the USA and nearby countries. However, watershed is also used to describe the boundary line between two catchment areas i.e. a line drawn across the tops of hills or mountains. In the distant past, many coral reefs developed downstream of catchment areas and were able to cope with low levels of sediment and nutrient flows, but recent increases in human populations and  development near the coast are delivering large increases in sediment and nutrient pollution that is damaging coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass beds. Catchments deliver the following things to the coast:
• Sediments from deforestation, farming and development;
• Nutrients in sediments from erosion, from farming (fertiliser losses and intensive livestock waste), and  industrial and domestic wastewater and sewage;
• Pesticides principally from farming;
• Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) from industries (other than pesticides);
• Heavy metals from mining operations and metal processing industries (refineries, smelters) and general urban and industrial wastes;
• Solid wastes especially plastics and other litter; and
• Large volumes of fresh water
Many people come to the coast from these catchment areas to fish and for recreation. This can result in more damage, but it also presents an opportunity for the coastal manager to involve them in finding solutions to the problems affecting coastal resources. The key message to deliver is to raise awareness of the problems and solutions through e ffective catchment management. This book makes many recommendations to reduce, and where possible, remove the damaging impacts that are delivered by rivers and streams to the coast where coral reefs may be damaged. These recommendations have been developed based on the 33 Case Studies from Asia, the Pacific and Australia, and to the wider Caribbean and tropical Atlantic. We have also used the advice of expert reviewers and our own experience in making these recommendations.

Full Paper (Part 1)

Full Paper (Part 2)

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