Well, that's not entirely correct. While the CORAL offices are empty and staff scattered to the winds for the holidays, I'm here stirring my second cup of coffee and trying to bring form and meaning to an article I'm hoping to publish in the new year. My editors have kindly given me an extension till end of day today, so it's easier to work on this at the office with zero distractions than at home where all I can think about is honey-baked ham.
While I've poked my head up for a breather, I wanted to share news of an important report that was released in November that for the life of me I couldn't get around to blogging about. The Healthy Reefs for Healthy People initiative released the first Eco-health Report Card for the Mesoamerican Reef on November 15. The Report Card presents an easy-to-understand overview of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef’s ecosystem condition and stewardship by providing a straightforward five-point grading system from ‘very good’ to ‘critical’ for seven reef indicators, combined into a novel Integrated Reef Health Index which synthesizes all the ecological reef data into one “Dow Jones” style index.So what sort of grades does the Mesoamerican Reef--stretching over 1,000 km from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, through the entire Belize Barrier Reef complex, along the coast of Guatemala and out to the Bay Islands of Honduras--get? This first Report Card shows the overall picture of a reef in danger, in need of immediate protection. Many of the reef health indicators (particularly for fish abundances) are now in worse condition than the Caribbean average and threats like coastal development and tourism are rapidly accelerating.
Now I ask you (since we are using the "report card" analogy), if your kids came home with report cards that demonstrated poor performance (and not just poor performance, but performance demonstrably worse than the last reporting cycle), wouldn't you take action? I don't even have kids (nor even want any) but I can assure you my reaction to such a scenario would hardly be sanguine. And yet we continue to hear such fair to poor prognoses for reefs. This summer I made precisely this point at the US Coral reef Task Force meeting in Kona when a then freshly released NOAA report indicated that half of all US coral reefs are in poor to fair condition, with one-third of all reefs facing extinction.
Poor grades on a student report card might have this non-parent looking at degrees of culpability from several possible causes. First, in an act of sheer paternalism, I might consider there's nothing wrong with my child. Instead, there must be something wrong with the teacher. Perhaps this steward of my child's mind is slacking in their responsibilities.
Second, I'd have to consider the failing student. What's happening in that child's attitude, life, or environment to not only allow for academic failure, but create a downward trend over time.
And finally, I'd need to consider my role and responsibility as a parent. If failing grades come as a surprise, where was I during the process? Failing grades on a report card don't just happen. They are the aggregate scores following multiple opportunities to measure progress, make course corrections, and build towards success. So for a failure to catch me by surprise, I'd really need to have been "checked-out" of my role as parent/guardian.
I may have stretched this analogy to it's breaking point, but there is nonetheless a point I'm hoping to make. Whether we talk about failing grades in school or failing grades on an ecological report card, a failing grade is not a prediction of future grades or ultimate outcome (either of a student or an ecosystem). It is certainly a warning sign, and if the overall trend in performance is a downward slide, then urgent action must be taken. But inaction, disinterest, or finger-pointing should be nowhere to be found in our repertoire of possible reactions to failure.
"Sorry Timmy, you are failing and will always fail. Time to cut my losses and focus on Briana." The idea of such a response to a failing child gives me goosebumps, and not just because it's Christmas Eve. And I've certainly heard the horror stories of parent friends who have been locked in blame game shouting matches between teachers, students, and parents over who's ultimately responsible for poor student performance.
In my world of coral reef conservation, the players may be different but the dynamics are roughly the same. Who's to blame for a declining coral reef? It's the resource managers! It's the tourists! It's the fishers! It's the developers! It's the normal reef cycle! It's global warming! It's the policy makers! The blame goes around, the reef health declines.
Dr. Melanie McField, Healthy Reefs Initiative Coordinator (and friend and colleague), provided some context to the Meoamerican Report Card saying that, “While the picture could certainly be worse, the report card signals the urgency for stronger actions to protect our reefs." “With so many reefs in fair to poor condition," she said, "their condition could easily turn in either direction (for better or worse) depending on our current management actions. We need to do the right thing for the reefs and for the people who depend on those reefs to sustain their livelihoods”.
Hear-Hear, Melanie! Hear-Hear!
