Abstract

Coral barrier reefs protect coasts, people and economies at Caribbean insular territories that are exposed yearly to waves and cyclones, but these ecosystems have been affected by climate change and bad decision making about management of coastal areas. Improvement on consciousness about the importance of these ecosystems for people wellbeing, business, and nature itself might enforce better management and decision making for sustainability and Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA). To do that, we evaluated coastal protection ecosystem service at two different areas at San Andrés Island as a case of study, to better show decision makers about the importance of healthy reef barriers for wellbeing. For that, we registered field wave height attenuation (January to March 2021) and evaluated reef barrier condition using aerial and subaquatic surveys. Our results showed differences on wave attenuation between both sites (up to 89% an up to 79%). Waves at forereef reached up to 3.2 m (10.5 feet) height (Hs), were reduced up to 20 cm (0.7 feet) due to barrier reef, we found differences between reef species composition and other attributes between sites, showing insights of degradation on the less wave attenuating reef that presented severe coastal erosion on its beach. These dumping on coastal protection service bring to economic and wellbeing losses. Our results are being included on a communication strategy with economic, social, and environmental perspectives to encourage decision makers at Caribbean to invest on a better management and protection strategy to improve coral barrier reefs health as Nature Based Solutions-NBS for sustainability.

PDF Preview