Wildlife and Nature Protection Society Monthly Lecture on 19 January

New Year’s first event 

to focus on ‘Corals in Crisis: Increasing Resilience 

to Climate Change’

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) will kick off its popular monthly lecture series for the New Year with the first event planned for 19 January at 6 p.m. at the Cinema Lounge, BMICH, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.

The focus of the January lecture will be ‘Corals in Crisis: Increasing Resilience to Climate Change’. The public lecture is open to all members and non-members, admission free. 

The presenter is Nishan Perera who is a marine biologist and underwater photographer with an interest in coral reef ecology, fisheries and marine protected area management. He is a co-founder of Blue Resources Trust and has previously worked with international conservation agencies in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia and Australia. 

His current research includes field studies on coral reef resilience, reef fish distribution and sustainable small-scale fisheries. He is the author of several scientific papers and a coffee table book on the coral reefs of Sri Lanka. He has also contributed articles and images to the Serendib, Explore Sri Lanka, Life Times Magazine, African Diver, Sport Diving Australia and Magazyn Nurkowanie Poland.

WNPS said coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse and environmentally sensitive ecosystems but have been severely degraded by human activities such as overfishing, destructive fishing methods, coastal development and pollution. Climate change and rising sea temperatures are now posing a significant threat to coral reefs, compounding existing pressures cause by anthropogenic influences. Recent coral bleaching events caused by elevated sea temperatures have resulted in unprecedented coral mortality across the world.

Managing such sensitive ecosystems requires a two pronged strategy that reduces direct human impacts while increasing resilience and recovery potential of coral reefs and associated species. Identifying reef habitats and species that are more tolerant of such stresses is therefore important in conserving overall coral reef diversity and biomass. 

Similarly, recovery after mass mortality events has been patchy and resulted in phase shifts in species composition. Understanding such dynamics as well as environmental and physical variables affecting reef resilience and incorporating resilience parameters into adaptive management strategies is now considered an important aspect of Marine Protected Area management.

Coral reef and Marine Protected Area management in Sri Lanka continues to focus on traditional approaches. Management is often reactive and static rather than being predictive and adaptive. Key aspects of reef resilience, its importance in management strategies, and the use of a more science based management approach will be discussed in this presentation.