UNEP-WCMC technical report Review of selected corals from Indonesia (Version edited for public release) 2 Review of selected corals from Indonesia Prepared for The European Commission, Directorate General Environment, Directorate E - Global & Regional Challenges, LIFE ENV.E.2. – Global Sustainability, Trade & Multilateral Agreements, Brussels, Belgium Prepared June 2015 Copyright European Commission 2015 Citation UNEP-WCMC. 2015. Review of selected corals from Indonesia. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge. The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the specialist biodiversity assessment of the United Nations Environment Programme, the world’s foremost intergovernmental environmental organization. The Centre has been in operation for over 30 years, combining scientific research with policy advice and the development of decision tools. 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Contents 3 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Coral management in Indonesia ...................................................................................................... 5 Catalaphyllia jardinei II/B ................................................................................................................ 10 Euphyllia cristata II/B ....................................................................................................................... 14 Plerogyra sinuosa II/B ....................................................................................................................... 18 Plerogyra turbida II/B ...................................................................................................................... 23 Eguchipsammia fistula II/B ............................................................................................................. 27 Heliofungia actiniformis II/B........................................................................................................... 30 Hydnophora microconos II/B .......................................................................................................... 35 Blastomussa wellsi II/B .................................................................................................................... 39 Scolymia vitiensis II/B ...................................................................................................................... 43 Mycedium elephantotus II/B ........................................................................................................... 47 Trachyphyllia geoffroyi II/B ............................................................................................................. 50 References ............................................................................................................................................. 56 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 61 4 Introduction This document provides a review of ten coral taxa that have been subject to long term import suspensions for Indonesia, and one coral species (Mycedium elephantotus ) for which a new 2014 quota was published retrospectively in 2015. In informal discussions in the margins of the 27 th Animals Committee Meeting in April 2014, Indonesia requested clarification on the status of imports of 12 taxa, which are all subject to EU import suspensions (H. Perier in litt . to UNEP-WCMC, 25/09/2014). Following correspondence on these long-term suspensions, Indonesia provided further information on the management of the coral harvest and trade, and the status of these species in Indonesia (Scientific Authority of Indonesia, 2014). The following taxa were queried by Indonesia, three of which are considered to be synonyms by CITES; this is discussed in more detail in the individual reviews: - Cynarina lacrymalis (reviewed for SRG70) - Catalaphyllia jardinei - Euphyllia cristata - Plerogyra sinuosa - Nemenzophyllia turbida (synonym of Plerogyra turbida ) - Dendrophyllia fistula (synonym of Eguchipsammia fistula ) - Heliofungia actiniformis - Hydnophora microconos - Blastomussa wellsi - Scolymia vitiensis - Trachyphyllia geoffroyi - Wellsophyllia radiata (synonym of Trachyphyllia geoffroyi) It was agreed that a review by the SRG of the import suspensions for these taxa would be useful. At its 70 th meeting, the SRG decided to, in the meantime, replace the suspensions for these species with negative opinions (SRG70 SoC). Information from the Scientific Authority of Indonesia was provided to UNEP-WCMC in 2014 and has been incorporated into these species reviews. Views from coral experts which were sought during the preparation of document SRG 70/10, including from Lyndon DeVantier (Coral Reef Research), Asuka Ishizaki (Protected Species Coordinator, Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council) and J. E. N. Veron, have also been incorporated into this report. Veron highlighted that the website ‘Corals of the World’ would be released at the end of 2014 or soon after, and that this would provide a key resource for decisions in the context of corals (J. E. N. Veron in litt . to UNEP-WCMC, 2014). As of 28/05/2015, the website was not released. Since 2008, Indonesia has reported maricultured corals in trade as source F, in line with EU reporting, instead of reporting them as source ‘W*’, as it had done previously. It is difficult to compare the proportions of wild-sourced and maricultured coral imports before that change in reporting, as EU imports of wild-sourced corals prior to 2008 may be artificially high, due to some maricultured corals having been misreported as wild-sourced by the EU. Also since 2008, Indonesia has established Maximum Estimated Production (MEP) for coral mariculture, which generally indicated the expected production per facility and per taxon for half a year at a time. Full trade data is available here: https://db.tt/uoID7NN7 (direct trade) and https://db.tt/3FVbaFNw (indirect trade). Coral management in Indonesia 5 A summary of the status of corals in Indonesia, the main threats affecting them, and the management actions taken is provided below, with particular focus on the management of the harvest and trade of corals in Indonesia (for a full review see UNEP-WCMC, 2014). Status and trends Indonesia was reported to have experienced a rapid decline of marine resources over the last three decades, with urgent conservation measures needed (Allen, 2008). The status of reefs (Table 2) was considered to be poorest in western Indonesia in 2000 (Dirhamsyah, 2005) and the condition of coral reefs was found to have declined over the period 2004-2008 (Wilkinson, 2008), with many reefs considered severely damaged (Scaps et al., 2007). Table 2: Some assessments of the status of Indonesian reefs over time Reef status 2000 2011 1 2014 Poor 32.3% 30.8% 30% Fair 35.3% 36.9% 37.7% Good 25.5% 27.0% 26.8% Excellent 6.7% 5.6% 5.3% (Scientific Authority of Indonesia, (COREMAP, 2011; in: Asian 2014; in litt . to European Reference: (Dirhamsyah, 2005) Development Bank, 2014) Commission) The Scientific Authority (SA) of Indonesia (2014; in litt . to UNEP-WCMC) believed that the condition of the reef and live coral cover had improved over the period 1993-2014, particularly since the establishment of COREMAP (The National Policy, Strategy and Action Plan) in the late 1998s (Suharsono, 2008b). COREMAP management actions were also believed to have contributed to increases in coral cover in eastern Indonesia over the period 2006-2011 (Giyanto, 2011). Threats In the mid-2000s, 70% of Indonesian coral reefs were considered to be threatened (Dirhamsyah, 2005) and the Center for Ocean Solutions (2009) later considered the majority of the coral reefs to be under “moderate to severe risk”. Destructive fishing practices were considered the main threat to corals (Burke et al. , 2011; Dirhamsyah, 2005; Wilkinson, 2008; Center for Ocean Solutions, 2009; Turak and DeVantier, 2003;