o t h e r
An unconventional solution is still a solution.
Research Coral’s Chemical Makeup
Certain organizations, usually large ones, simultaneously protect the environment while researching it at the same time. One such organization is the Nature Conservatory. They are creating networks of protected areas and research areas. While researching coral is important, as mentioned earlier, it is invaluable to learn about the chemical makeup of coral. Doing so advances the medical industry, for they have already discovered numerous treatments to diseases from doing so - and could find countless more if research is conducted on the other 90% of coral reefs. At the same time these findings could reveal how coral works, which scientists still lack knowledge in. By understanding coral better, their published results would allow for environmentalist organizations to implement new strategies for protecting coral. In the end, the newly preserved coral reefs would continue to provide medical research for the medical industry without them really having to spend their resources on preserving the reefs.
Promoting Scientific Research on Coral Reefs
The publishing of new discoveries on coral reefs teaches the public and the government of the importance of preserving the coral reefs. The Australian Coral Reef Society has been publishing research results for decades. The results they have recorded have occasionally been concerning, and because they are available to people with resources, a change is possible. For example, they have brought major conservation issues to the attention of governments and the general public, notably the crown-of-thorn starfish outbreaks and the Royal Commission into oil drilling on the Great Barrier Reef which was the catalyst for the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Publishing their finding has no notably negative consequences. It is free, effective, and helpful to the protection of coral reefs. The Coral Triangle Knowledge Network is a database devoted to the study of coral reefs. The one negative consequence they have, is that similar to wikipedia certain people who post are not reliable - yet by allowing a wider crowd of people to contribute to their knowledge base results in there still being plenty of authentic information, more so than the ACRS.
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Investment in Marine Biotechnology
Wealthy countries have only recently realized the importance of coral in the medical industry. There has been a lack of funding in marine biotechnology (the study of marine resources of the world) in places such as the US. The benefits of the medical industry investing in marine biotechnology include newly discovered cures for diseases and ways to protect coral. Japan has spend $900 million to $1 billion each year, and 80% of that funding has been directly derived from the medical industry. They have been the world leader for coral related medical advancements. Between 1996 and 1999, coral in the US alone (which is very underfunded) has been responsible for 100 new compounds. Research on marine resources is already a multi-billion dollar industry, and is continuing to grow. It is for these reasons that the medical industry should continue to follow in Japan’s footsteps, and invest in marine biotechnology.
Sustainable Management of Researched Reefs
There have been many past instances where unsustainable extraction of coral for medical studies actually limited the research; scientists drew coral at random and had limited amounts of the cures. It has also severely damaged the environment, for in the past chunks of coral were taken at random with those taking them lacking in an indication on how much of what they should take. This has made it difficult to assess the impact of these practices on the environment. It also prevents scientists from getting the right kinds of coral for research, and when they did find a useful compound it was in trace amounts so they couldn't conduct sufficient studies on it. If they just collect what they needed, this would also be unsustainable. Coral takes a long time to grow and mining chunks of it prevents future medications from being produced.
Medical industries need to work towards methods of sustainable research. This allows for the production of future medication and an easier method with researching coral. One such way of doing this is taking small fragments of coral which can then be rapidly grown and utilized in a lab. This also keeps the natural ecosystems healthy.
