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Regardless of where we live, all of us depend upon healthy ocean ecosystems: either as a source of food or revenue, or as a key shaper and regulator of climate and weather. This dependency and the need to embrace sustainable development led nations of the world to agree to a series of high-level political commitments for marine conservation and marine protected areas. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, the 5th World Parks Congress, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the G8 Group of Nations have all called for the establishment of a global system of marine protected area (MPA) networks by the year 2012. In line with this commitment are strategies of marine conservation organizations and some governments to increase the development, use and effective management of MPAs as a tool for marine conservation across the oceans.

Observational records and climate projections provide abundant evidence that freshwater resources are vulnerable and have the potential to be strongly impacted by climate change, with wide-ranging consequences for human societies and ecosystems. Observed warming over several decades has been linked to changes in the large-scale hydrological cycle such as: increasing atmospheric water vapour content; changing precipitation patterns, intensity and extremes; reduced snow cover and widespread melting of ice; and changes in soil moisture and runoff. Precipitation changes show substantial spatial and inter-decadal variability. Over the 20th century, precipitation has mostly increased over land in high northern latitudes, while decreases have dominated from 10°S to 30°N since the 1970s. The frequency of heavy precipitation events (or proportion of total rainfall from heavy falls) has increased over most areas (likely). Globally, the area of land classified as very dry has more than doubled since the 1970s (likely). There have been significant decreases in water storage in mountain glaciers and Northern Hemisphere snow cover. Shifts in the amplitude and timing of runoff in glacier- and snowmelt-fed rivers, and in ice-related phenomena in rivers and lakes, have been observed (high confidence).

Corals are two-layered invertebrates that live in groups (i.e. they are colonial) and are related to jellyfish and sea anemones. Corals are made up of tiny individuals called polyps. Each polyp is like a fluid-filled bag with a ring of tentacles surrounding its mouth, and looks like a tiny anemone. Polyps within a colony are linked by living tissues and can share their food (Allen & Steene, 1994). In some corals, the polyp extracts calcium carbonate from the sea and secretes it as a cup of calcium carbonate from the bottom half of its body. These cups provide anchorage for the polyps but when threatened, the polyp can retreat into the safety of the hard cup. When the calcium carbonate cups of many billions of these polyps fuse together, they form coral reefs (Veron, 2000).

This report provides an overview of the progress that states, territories, federal agencies, and nongovernmental partners have made over the last fi ve years (2002–2006) in developing and implementing Local Action Strategies (LAS) to reduce threats to the Nation’s coral reef ecosystems. The United States Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) initiated development of Local Action Strategies in partnership with the U.S. All Islands Coral Reef Committee during the fall of 2002 to increase resources, coordination, and effectiveness of local coral reef conservation efforts in U.S. jurisdictions.

Several urban areas and popular tourist destinations have suffered from pollution from the land, significant fishing pressure, recreational overuse, and alien species. Despite these pressures, many coral reefs in Hawai'i remain in fair to good condition, especially remote reefs; Most MPAs have proven to be highly effective in conserving biodiversity and fisheries resources. MPA size, habitat quality, and level of protection are the most important success factors, but several MPAs are too small to have significant effects outside their boundaries; Community-based management has been effective at several locations in Hawai'i and expansion of these efforts is being encouraged; Continued invasion and degradation of new habitats by alien species remains one of the most pressing threats to reefs in Hawai'i; The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM) is the largest fully protected marine conservation area in the world, with a unique predator-dominated trophic structure, many endemic species, and many threatened and endangered species. This is an important global biodiversity 'hot spot'; Global impacts such as climate change (sea level rise, ocean warming and acidification) and marine debris threaten the unique ecosystem of the PMNM, and rapid international action is needed.

Coral reefs in Micronesia and American Samoa appear to be amongst the most resilient in the world, despite numerous on-going threats; There has been considerable recovery of reefs in western Micronesia (especially Palau) that were devastated during the massive coral bleaching in 1998; The more remote islands support thriving communities of large reef fishes due to limited fishing pressures and habitat degradation; Fish populations around major population centres show clear signs of over-fishing with few large fish observed because of fishing pressure, particularly spear-fishers using scuba; Management and monitoring efforts are on-going throughout the region and numerous effective initiatives are promoting recovery of damaged coral reefs as well as the conservation of healthy ones; Lack of enforcement continues to be one of the major hindrances to effective resource management outcomes and more support is necessary.

This publication was made possible through the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the UK Darwin Initiative, European Commission, and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). It represents a joint undertaking by the following organizational members of the Locally-Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network: the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Applied Science Institute of the University of the South Pacific (USP), the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International Secretariat (FSPI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Pacific Programme. Various drafts of this document have been used in facilitating Community-Based Adaptive Management (CBAM) in several South Pacific countries over the past eight years and it is therefore a "living" document. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors.