The Refuge System’s Best Kept Secret
While national wildlife refuges are usually recognized as havens for migratory birds and imperiled wildlife, few people realize that refuges also protect significant marine wildlife habitat, including most of our nation’s coral reefs.
Marine National Monuments
- Laysan albatross at Midway atoll | FWS
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages four vast marine national monuments as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. These refuges protect large stretches of the Pacific Ocean and provide habitat for millions of seabirds, deep-sea corals, sea turtles and endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal.
- Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
- Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
- Rose Atoll Marine National Monument
- Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
Former President George W. Bush’s designation of these important marine sanctuaries in the Pacific Ocean added more than 50 million acres to the Refuge System, but the FWS has not received a proportionate increase in funding to manage these additions. The Refuge System cannot address ecological threats, purchase needed patrol and research vessels, support vital partnerships and fill essential staff positions without such funding.
Coral Reefs
In all, refuges encompass about 3 million acres of coral reef habitat in the Pacific, Caribbean and off of Florida’s coast. These refuges shelter more than 7,000 types of animals.
- Palmayra Atol NWR | FWS
In fact, the Refuge System protects more reef habitat than any other federal agency. Of the 555 national wildlife refuges, 13 include coral reefs. Of those, 10 reefs are in the Pacific and include more than 2 million acres. The three refuges in the Caribbean and off Florida’s coast contain a total of 756,000 acres.
The FWS manages refuge coral reefs and their inhabitants through habitat restoration, marine zoning, education, research and monitoring. Yet because the Refuge System is massively underfunded, the FWS does not have enough staff and resources to ensure that reefs are adequately protected against the many threats to their long-term health.
What can we do to protect coral reefs?
- Support marine wildlife conservation. Funding shortages and unmet research, management and law enforcement needs threaten our marine refuges. Urge decision-makers to support funding and authorization for refuge coral reefs.
- Pass comprehensive climate change legislation. By investing in alternatives to fossil fuels, and adopting energy conservation measures, we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we release to the atmosphere. These steps will help lessen the effects of global warming, a serious threat to our coral reefs. Check our Action website to learn more.
- Change our behavior. To protect coral reefs, stop using chemical fertilizers and pesticides that might drain into waterways that end up in the ocean. When shopping for an aquarium, only buy coral that has been grown in an aquarium and not harvested from the ocean. When diving, don’t touch coral and other reef wildlife. Be sure to recycle, so that waste won’t end up in the ocean. When visiting the beach, pick up trash to keep it from getting swept out into the sea.