Belize Barrier Reef

Belize Barrier Reef
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Brain Coral in the Great Blue Hole
The Barrier Reef is clearly visible along the Belizean coast.
Location	Belize and Honduras
Nearest city	Belize City, Belize
Coordinates	17°18′56″N 87°32′4″W / 17.31556°N 87.53444°W / 17.31556; -87.53444Coordinates: 17°18′56″N 87°32′4″W / 17.31556°N 87.53444°W / 17.31556; -87.53444

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, ix, x
Designated	1996 (20th session)
Reference no.	764
State Party	Belize
Region	Latin America and the Caribbean
Endangered	2009–present

The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly 300 meters (980 ft) offshore in the north and 40 kilometers (25 mi) in the south within the country limits. The Belize Barrier Reef is a 300-kilometer (190 mi) long section of the 900-kilometer (560 mi) Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, which is continuous from Cancún on the north-eastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula through the Riviera Maya and up to Honduras, making it the second largest coral reef system in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It is Belize's top tourist destination, popular for scuba diving and snorkeling and attracting almost half of its 260,000 visitors. It is also vital to the country's fishing industry.^[1]

Charles Darwin described it as "the most remarkable reef in the West Indies" in 1842.

In addition to its barrier reef, it also boasts three distinct Caribbean atolls: Turneffe Atoll, Glover's Reef and Lighthouse Reef. Lighthouse Reef is the most easterly diving area in Belize, it is home to the Great Blue Hole, made famous by Jacques Cousteau in 1970; Turneffe Atoll lies directly to the east of Belize City and is the nearest of the atolls to the capital. These different reefs provide diverse scuba diving opportunities that include walls, pinnacles and reef flats that are located throughout an enormous area of sea.^[2]

Species

The Belize Barrier Reef is home to a large diversity of plants and animals, and is one of the most diverse ecosystems of the world:

70 hard coral species
36 soft coral species
500 species of fish
hundreds of invertebrate species

With 90% of the reef still needing to be researched, it is estimated that only 10% of all species have been discovered.^[3]

Environmental protection

A large portion of the reef is protected by the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, which includes seven marine reserves, 450 cayes, and three atolls. It totals 960 square kilometres (370 sq mi) in area, including:

Glover's Reef Marine Reserve
Great Blue Hole
South Water Caye Marine Reserve
Half Moon Caye Natural Monument
Hol Chan Marine Reserve
Cayes include: Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Caye Chapel, Carrie Bow Caye, St. George's Caye, English Caye, Rendezvous Caye, Gladden Caye, Ranguana Caye, Long Caye, Moho Caye, Blackbird Caye, Three Corner Caye, Northern Caye, Tobacco Caye, and Sandbore Caye.

In 1996 the Reserve System was designated a World Heritage Site due to its vulnerability and the fact that it contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity (according to criteria VII, IX, and X).

Belize became the first country in the world to completely ban bottom trawling in December of 2010.^[4]^[5] In December 2015, Belize banned offshore oil drilling within 1 km of the Barrier Reef.^[6]

Despite these protective measures, the reef remains under threat from oceanic pollution as well as uncontrolled tourism, shipping, and fishing. Other threats include hurricanes, along with global warming and the resulting increase in ocean temperatures,^[7] which causes coral bleaching. It is claimed by scientists that over 40% of Belize's coral reef has been damaged since 1998.^[1]

The Belize Barrier Reef has been affected by mass-bleaching events. The first mass bleaching occurred in 1995, with an estimated mortality of 10 percent of coral colonies, according to a report by the Coastal Zone Management Institute in Belize. A second mass-bleaching event occurred, when Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998. Biologists observed a 48 percent reduction in live coral cover across the Belize reef system.

Usually, it is hard to distinguish whether the reason for coral bleaching is human activities or natural reasons such as storms or bacterial fluctuations. But in the case of the Belize Barrier Reef, many factors which make the distinction difficult do not apply. Human population in this area is much more sparse than the corresponding areas near other coral reefs, so the human activity and pollution are much lower compared to other coral reefs and the Belize reef system is in a much more enclosed area.

When coral bleaching occurs, a large part of the coral dies, and the remaining part of the ecosystem begins the process of repairing the damage. But the chances of recovery are low, as corals that are bleached become much more vulnerable to disease. Disease often kills more corals than the bleaching event itself. With continuous bleaching, the coral reef will have little to no chance of recovery.^[8]

Gallery

SeaWiFS image of Central America and southern Mexico. The Barrier Reef is clearly visible off of Belize's Coast
Green sea turtle with remora fish on its back
Close Up view of the Reef
Barrier Reef Aerial
Snorkeling the Belize Barrier Reef
Soft coral under Goff's Caye

References

1 2 Harrabin, Roger. (2006-06-12) Reef at forefront of CO2 battle . BBC News. Retrieved on 2011-10-21.
↑ "Scuba Diving in Belize: The Blue Hole, Ambergris and Turneffe Atoll". dive-the-world.com.
↑ Belize Barrier Reef Case Study. Westminster.edu. Retrieved on 2011-10-21.
↑ "Guatemalans trawling in Belize’s southern waters". Channel 5 Belize. 27 February 2013. Retrieved on 2013-02-28.
↑ "Belize Bans Bottom Trawling in Exclusive Economic Zone". Oceana.org.8 December 2010. Retrieved on 2013-02-28.
↑ "Government Implements Ban On Offshore Drilling". 7 News Belize. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
↑ "Coral Collapse in Caribbean". BBC News. May 4, 2000. Retrieved on October 21, 2011.
↑ Brian Handwerk and Lauri Hafvenstein Belize Reef Die-Off Due to Climate Change?. National Geographic. March 25, 2003

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belize Barrier Reef.

UNESCO World Heritage website

Protected areas of Belize

National parks	Aguas Turbias Bacalar Chico Billy Barquedier Chiquibul Five Blues Lake Gra Gra Lagoon Guanacaste Honey Camp Laughing Bird Caye Mayflower Bocawina Monkey Bay Elijio Panti Payne's Creek Peccary Hills Río Blanco Sarstoon-Temash St. Herman's Blue Hole

Natural monuments	Actun Tunichil Muknal Blue Hole Half Moon Caye Thousand Foot Falls Victoria Peak

Nature reserves	Bladen Burdon Canal Tapir Mountain

Wildlife sanctuaries	Aguacaliente Cockscomb Basin Corozal Bay Crooked Tree Gales Point Spanish Creek Swallow Caye

Forest reserves	Caye Caulker Chiquibul Columbia River Deep River Fresh Water Creek Grants Work Machaca Manatee Mango Creek Monkey Caye Mountain Pine Ridge Maya Mountain Sibun Sittee River Swasey Bladen Vaca

Marine reserves	Bacalar Chico Caye Caulker Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Glover's Reef Hol Chan Port Honduras Sapodilla Cayes South Water Caye

Archaeological reserves	Altun Ha Barton Creek Cahal Pech Caracol Cerro Maya El Pilar Lamanai Lubaantun Marco Gonzalez Nim Li Punit Nohoch Che'en Santa Rita Serpon Sugar Mill Xunantunich Yarborough Cemetery

Other reserves	Aguacate Lagoon Bird sanctuaries Block 127 Community Baboon Sanctuary Golden Stream Monkey Bay Río Bravo Runaway Creek Shipstern

Corals and coral reefs

Stony corals	Scleractinia Blue coral Brain coral Elkhorn coral Hermatypic coral Chalice coral Pillar coral Staghorn coral Table coral

Soft corals	Alcyonacea Black coral Bamboo coral Organ pipe coral Sea fans Sea pens

Coral reefs	Atoll reef Cay Fringing reef Microatoll Coral reef fish Census of Coral Reefs The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs Catlin Seaview Survey

Coral regions	List of reefs Deep-water coral African coral reefs Amazon Reef Andros, Bahamas Belize Barrier Reef Coral Sea Islands Coral Triangle Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Great Barrier Reef Maldives Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System New Caledonia Barrier Reef Pulley Ridge Raja Ampat Islands Red Sea Southeast Asian coral reefs

Coral diseases	Coral bleaching Black band disease Skeletal eroding band White band disease White pox disease

Protection	Coral Reef Alliance Coral reef protection Green Fins International Society for Reef Studies Project AWARE Reef Check Reef Ball

Other	Artificial reef Aquaculture of coral Coral dermatitis Precious coral Coral rag Coral reef organizations Coral sand Coralline alga Environmental issues with coral reefs Fire coral Reef resilience Rugosa (extinct) Symbiodinium Tabulata

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