I-I CARIUU. MAR. STUll .• products useful for medicine and industry, but already many have been limnd and exploited commercially. Coral reels arc among the most beautiful and visually impressive habitats on earth, full of life and colour. The Caribbean tourism industry owes much to the opportunities they provide tor diving and snorkclling. Reels also contribute to the attraction or beach holidays through the calm water and blue-green colouring provided by their lagoons, the protection they ollcr against beach erosion, and the role of coral skeletons in forming the white sand of Caribbean beaches. Shoreline protection is a very important service provided by coral reels, and an assessment of their value should include the replacement cost of beaches and of buildings and developments close to shore----a service likely to SPECIAL EDinON. 2007 become increasingly important according to models which predict both rising sea level and more destructive storm activity as a result of global warming. Taken together, the annual value of services provided by Caribbean coral reels has been estimated at between U.S. $3.1 billion and U.S. S4.6 billion, with degradation by 2015 potentially costing between U.S. S350 million and U.S. $870 million per year (sec Table 2.1; Burke and Maidens 2004 ). Caribbean coral reefs arc already greatly degraded. They have lost some 80%, of living coral over the last 20 years, an unprecedented rnte of degradation, declining in some instances from more than 50'!/o live cover to less than I 0% (see Fig. 2.4; Gardener et a!. 2003 ). The degradation has, in most cases, been due to a mixture of impacts, all of TABLE 2.1 - Estimated value of ecosystem services ti·om Caribbean coral reefs. and potential losses from their degradation. Estimated annual value in :woo Estimated future annual losses due to coral-reef degradation Good/service u.s.$ Fisheries 312 million Fisheries productivity could decline an estimated 30--45% by 2015 with associated loss of annual net benefits valued at U.S. $11 -140 million (in constant-dollar terms, standardized to 2000). Tourism and recreation 2.1 billion Growth oi'Caribbcan dive tourism will continue, bllt the growth achieved by 2015 could be lowered by 2--5% as a result or coralreef degradation, with the region-wide loss of annual net benefits valued at an estimated U.S. $100 300 million (in constant-dollar terms, standardized to 2000). Shoreline protection 0. 7 2.2 billion Over 15,000 km of shoreline could experience a I 0-20% reduction in shoreline protection by 2050 as a result of cornl-rccr degradation. The estimated value of lost annual net benefits is estimated at U.S. $140--420 million (in constant-dollar terms, standardized to 2000). TOTAL 3.1·4.6 billion U.S. $350 870 million SouRcE: Burke and Maidens 2004. - 35-