Maintained by
Maintained by |
|
The United Nations Environment Programme has set up a Coral Reef Unit to work in the International Coral Reef Network (ICRAN). It was announced in March 2001 that the United Nations Foundation has given US$ 10 million for the ICRAN effort. At the same time, UNEP announced a new four-year programme with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to make several reefs in Kenya, the Seychelles and Madagascar "centres of excellence" for East African reef management as part of the ICRAN initiative.
Through the coordinating units of UNEP's Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans in the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, ICRAN will work to demonstrate better reef management practices, supported by strengthened reef assessment and increased public awareness of the importance of reef resources.
The new UNEP Coral Reef Unit is part of the Division of Environmental Conventions and will work closely with the Division of Early Warning and Assessment. The Director, Arthur Dahl, is a distinguished coral reef ecologist and former aquanaut with more than 30 years' experience in coral reef research and management. Mr. Dahl organized the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme and was a founding council member of the International Society for Reef Studies. He authored the first international coral reef monitoring handbook and is a former Deputy Director of the UNEP Oceans and Coastal Areas Programme.