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CURRENT CORALCORAL REEF ALLIANCE 2013 ANNUAL REPORT CORAL.ORG PASSIONA TE PEOPLE DR. MICHAEL WEBSTER, they can benefit socially, culturally, and And it is this constituency that helps us JIM TOLONEN, my visit with the people who are working welcomed five Board members who EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR economically from preserving their reef address threats like water pollution and BOARD CHAIR tirelessly to ensure healthy reefs in bring new expertise and ideas to the is crucial for conservation to succeed in overfishing, and strengthen how reefs Honduras: the CORAL team of Jenny organization and are helping to craft a This past fall when our In 2013, I visited one of the long term. are managed, leading to measurably Myton and Pamela Ortega, our col- renewed organizational strategic plan. field staff arrived from our field sites—Roatan, healthier reef ecosystems. leagues at the Roatan Marine Park, We also launched the CORAL Interna- around the world to Honduras—with other Our work is driven by diplomacy, AMATELA, BICA, and Healthy Reefs tional Council. In their first order of participate in our members of the Board passion, and perseverance as we While we exist to save reefs, our work is Initiative, even the dive shop owners, business, the growing group of CORAL annual organizational planning session, and staff. I had the opportunity to see strategize and collaborate with a wide all about people. I am honored to give restaurateurs, and hotel staff. With advisors collectively committed to raise I was struck—again—by how talented, firsthand how our work is helping save variety of stakeholders, and act as a you the chance to hear directly from the leadership of these individuals and $100,000 and use it as a challenge to dedicated, and passionate they are. With coral reefs, and I couldn’t have been catalyst for change. But successes do some of our staff and other leaders organizations, there is truly much hope other supporters (which was enthusiasti- your support, they, along with our equally more inspired. not happen overnight, nor does building within the organization about their for the future of Honduras’ reefs. I am cally met, bringing in a total of over dedicated headquarters staff, are doing support for conservation. That means exciting work and goals for Though blown away by the so proud of CORAL’s role in building up $300,000 from our year-end fundraising). the hands-on work of implementing our that our field staff spend much of their the future. incredible stands of endangered teams of environmental crusaders, not And that’s just the beginning for this group. mission. From Jenny Myton’s drive and time talking—and listening—to people staghorn coral within Cordelia just in Honduras, but also in our other persistence, to Liz Foote’s energy and and finding common ground, whether Thank you for giving us the Whether donor, director, local business- Banks (an area CORAL and sites around the world. enthusiasm, Naneng Setiasih’s dyna- the stakeholders are government officials, opportunity to do what person, or conservation professional, it our partners gained protec- mism, Pamela Ortega’s contagious joy, fishermen, hotel managers, wastewater we love and be suc- Last year was a critical year for expand- is people who make our work possible, tions for in 2012), I was and Arthur Sokimi’s deeply ingrained treatment plant operators, community cessful at it—none of ing our leadership team to better support and people who will ultimately save coral most impressed during conservation ethic—our people are members and volunteers, or staff from these stories would the many passionate people working in reefs. I hope you enjoy learning about the uniting communities to save coral reefs. other nonprofits. It is strong partnerships be possible the field to unite communities to save successes that, together, we have made like these that are building a broader without you. coral reefs. I am happy to report that we possible over the last year, and are Building local stewardship is the corner- constituency of coral reef supporters. inspired by the successes that are yet to stone of our efforts. We believe that come with the continued passion of so involving many different members of many. Thank you for your support. the community and exploring how photos by coral staff 2 CORAL CURRENT - 2013 ANNUAL REPORT CORAL CURRENT - 2013 ANNUAL REPORT 3 NEW TRENDS CORAL’s work on water quality issues in Hawai‘i has opened the door for us to begin addressing similar issues in Honduras. With an improved under- standing of how nutrient pollution affects coral health, we are beginning to work to improve wastewater treat- ment and management on Roatan. We have partnered with the Bay Islands Conservation Association to measure marine water quality around Roatan and begun working with the Municipality of Roatan, local water boards, and community councils to better under- stand the social and technical problems involved in treating wastewater in the Bay Islands. We are piloting efforts in West End, Roatan to develop incentives for better wastewater management. Our efforts will ultimately allow the commu- nity to better manage their wastewater treatment plant, improving water quality for the Bay Islands’ valuable reefs. photo by jeff yonover CREATING A CONSTITUENCY FOR CLEANER WATER AND HEALTHIER REEFS PARTNERING FOR BETTER REEF STEWARDSHIP hile there is no “one size fits partnership brings together diverse stake- n Honduras, the ability to effectively plan was based on sound science and data, all” approach to CORAL’s work, holders in a watershed-wide effort to improve manage natural resources—in our case, and reflects the input of all stakeholders. all of us in the field—whether water quality for coral reefs—whether the coral reefs—depends greatly on coop- The plan sets forth zoning that includes a in Hawai‘i, Indonesia, Mexico, problem is polluted stormwater runoff or eration among government agencies, protected fish replenishment area with clearly Honduras, or Fiji—experience excess nutrients in wastewater, and whether local and other nonprofit organizations, defined boundaries that make enforcement W similar issues when it comes the solution is building a rain garden or I and the private sector. Supporting easier. This is the first enforced no-take area to tackling the threats facing our community’s helping a hotel hook up to a purple recycled grassroots organizations committed to saving within the Bay Islands National Marine Park. reefs. Thankfully, we have found that our work water pipe. Honduras’s unique coral reef ecosystems is at one site helps inform and improve our work critical to conservation success. This past year, we also teamed up with at other sites. To support increased use of recycled AMATELA and other NGOs, researchers, wastewater on Maui—and thus decrease the On Roatan, CORAL has been building and local and federal government agencies For example, CORAL’s earliest work in Hawai‘i amount of nutrient-rich wastewater that ends capacity for reef conservation over the past to strengthen protection for Tela Bay, which was modeled after our successes partnering BY LIZ FOOTE – Hawai‘i Field Manager up in the ocean and on coral reefs—CORAL several years by helping the Roatan Marine BY JENNY MYTON – Honduras Field Manager includes one of the healthiest reefs in the with local stakeholders to establish voluntary is helping hotel and resort managers prepare Park strengthen management of local Caribbean, Capiro Banks. This strategic standards for marine tourism in the Meso- to transition their properties to using recycled protected areas. In 2013, we began building alliance allowed us to witness and record the work here is helping inform similar efforts in We are also joining forces with local and american region. That work with marine water. Our new publication, Recycled Water similar partnerships on the island of Utila, spawning of critically endangered elkhorn the Mesoamerican region, as we begin to national government officials to ensure better tourism operators in West Hawai‘i then gave for Reefs/A Guide for West Maui’s Resorts bringing formerly disparate conservation coral (Acropora palmata), calling additional improve wastewater treatment in Honduras protection for reefs. In 2012, we succeeded us the experience we needed to engage and Condominium Properties, downloadable efforts and entities together to develop the attention to the importance of this area. The and Mexico. I have truly enjoyed seeing our in having Cordelia Banks—1,700 hectares of more deeply with Hawai‘i’s accommodations at www.coral.org/hawaiiwater, is a “how to” Utila Conservation Fund. Our goal for this information we gathered helped us work with successes—and what we learn from our coastal waters and reefs—designated as a sector. Though our work with hotels and other guide for property managers who wish to fund, which we are seed funding, is to build our many partners to complete and submit a challenges—in one site move our work federal Site of Wildlife Importance. In 2013, we stakeholders was originally focused more on begin that process. As we created the guide, support for co-managing a marine park in ficha tecnica for the region, which describes forward in another. worked closely with the government to finalize reef stewardship and sustainability initiatives we attracted a new suite of stakeholders Utila, similar to what is happening in Roatan. the environmental setting, boundaries, and a management plan for this site. With help (program areas we still engage in), we have within the accommodations sector, building The trust we have established will strengthen rationale for having this area declared a fed- In Hawai‘i, one of the ways we are tackling from Roatan Marine Park staff and many other since expanded our scope to address water more support for coral reef conservation and our partners’ ability to collaboratively manage eral Site of Wildlife Importance like Cordelia.

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