Laura Recuero Virto, professor and researcher at EMLV, has recently published a new policy brief addressing a critical challenge: the socio-economic and ecological monitoring of coral reef degradation.
This policy brief was developed in response to a request from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and IFRECOR (French Initiative for Coral Reefs) to highlight the importance of understanding the biological impacts of coral reef decline and its socio-economic consequences.
IFRECOR: A Framework for Sustainable Coral Reef Management
Created in 1999, IFRECOR—the French Initiative for Coral Reefs—is a national and local-level program dedicated to the protection and sustainable management of coral reefs and associated ecosystems, such as mangroves and seagrass beds. IFRECOR operates through a national committee and a network of 10 local committees, each representing French overseas territories that host coral reefs, including:
- Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint-Martin
- La Réunion and Mayotte
- The Îlés Eparses (TAAF)
- New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and French Polynesia
The initiative’s primary goal is to promote sustainable reef management on local, national, and international scales. IFRECOR implements a five-year action program, combining localised action plans for each territory with cross-sectoral themes that address shared challenges across the overseas territories.
The Need for Socio-Economic Monitoring
While coral reefs provide essential ecosystem services—such as food resources, coastal protection, and economic support through tourism and fishing—they are increasingly threatened by the combined impacts of human activity and climate change. The focus has primarily been on the biological aspects of reef degradation. However, the socio-economic consequences remain largely under-monitored in IFRECOR’s extensive overseas network.
This policy brief, authored by Laura Recuero Virto, responds to this critical gap by introducing a framework for assessing and monitoring coral reef-dependent socio-ecosystems’ social and ecological vulnerability.
The framework highlights the interconnectedness of human communities, economic stability, and coral reef health.
Understanding Social and Ecological Vulnerability
The concept of socio-ecological vulnerability revolves around understanding the risks faced by ecosystems and the human populations that depend on them. It involves identifying the factors contributing to vulnerability, including hazards (e.g., environmental degradation, climate change), exposure (proximity and reliance on coral reefs), and communities’ capacity to respond and adapt to such challenges.
The policy brief provides a structured approach to:
- Identify priority issues related to the degradation of coral reefs.
- Develop a risk management framework that incorporates socio-economic and ecological indicators.
- Assess and monitor vulnerabilities by using appropriate tools and methodologies.
By integrating these concepts, decision-makers can better evaluate coral reefs’ human, economic, and environmental value and take informed actions to mitigate risks.
Key Indicators for Action Planning
The policy brief outlines examples of indicators that can be used to assess socio-ecological vulnerability:
- Social Indicators: Population dependence on reef resources, community livelihoods (e.g., fishing, tourism), and access to alternative income sources.
- Ecological Indicators: Coral reef health, species biodiversity, and degradation drivers (e.g., pollution, overfishing).
- Economic Indicators: Value of reef-related economic activities, infrastructure at risk, and costs of reef restoration or adaptation measures.
These indicators facilitate the identification of vulnerabilities and enable local and national stakeholders to prioritise actions to reduce hazard exposure, reinforce response capacity, and support adaptation.
Challenges and Future Perspectives
Despite the clear need for socio-economic monitoring, IFRECOR faces significant resource constraints. Addressing the socio-economic impacts of coral reef degradation requires long-term investment, collaboration across stakeholders, and financial and technical resources mobilisation—a challenging task given current economic pressures.
The timing remains delicate as the effects of climate change and human activities continue to escalate, exacerbating risks for vulnerable communities and ecosystems in French overseas territories.
Laura Recuero Virto‘s policy brief underscores the need for a holistic approach to coral reef management that integrates socio-economic and ecological perspectives. By enhancing monitoring efforts and prioritising vulnerability assessments, decision-makers can design targeted actions that safeguard coral reefs and support the communities that rely on them.
The publication aligns with IFRECOR’s mission to promote sustainable coral reef management. It reinforces the role of academic research, such as that conducted at EMLV, in addressing global environmental challenges.
As France continues its commitment to coral reef conservation, initiatives like this provide essential tools for understanding and mitigating the socio-ecological impacts of reef degradation in overseas territories.
