The Meso-American Coral Reef Watch Program was launched in 2008 in Belize, Mexico and Honduras by The Nature Conservancy as an early warning alert system for coral bleaching in the region and in Belize has been supported by the World Wildlife Fund.

The goal of the program is to raise awareness among stakeholders – marine guides, visitors, non-governmental organizations and government departments - on the increasing impacts climate change may have on the the delicate balance that exists on tropical coral reefs. 

Once aware of the conditions inherent of a natural and healthy reef, guides, visitors and park rangers can submit regular reports on the conditions of the reefs so that changes over time can be measured.  

The program monitors levels of coral bleaching of stony corals. As sea temperatures rise during the later summer months, the corals begin to get stressed and first become pale, then turn partially white, and then if the sea temperatures remain too warm for too long the entire coral colony can become completely white.

Corals can exhibit varying levels of resistant to increasing sea temperatures.  What makes corals in certain areas of the reef resistant to the impacts of climate change can be repeated stress from locally warmer waters or sediment laden run-off.  The corals in these areas have acclimatized to these conditions and become resilient.  The acroporid corals - elkhorn and staghorn - that are growing on the reef now are believed to be resilient to our warming seas. 


A goal of the program is to identify resilient reefs, or reefs that may bleach but recover quickly.  When regular reports are received for dive and snorkel sites the data can be compared over time.  As bleaching levels are forecast to increase over the next decade, the data the Coral Watch program collects is expected to identify resilient reefs.

It is hoped that as impacts of climate change increase, resilient reefs will be areas that need protection to seed surrounding reefs with their "resilient" corals offspring.

To learn more about the Mesoamerican Coral Reef Watch Program visit:

http://www.marcoralwatch.net