Presentation made at the Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States conference, 23-24 November 2017, Seychelles. A partnership of the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation, IUCN WCPA Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group, University of Seychelles, Paris Tourism Sorbonne (IREST), and Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

1. Whitney Hoot
NOAA Coral Fellow
Bureau of Statistics and Plans
Guam

2. Photo: guamreeflife.com
> 1000
species
Two
species
> 350
species
> 5,100
total species on
Guam’s reefs
> 300
species

3. BIOLOGICAL CULTURAL SOCIAL ECONOMIC
Photo: guamreeflife.com
$164 million USD/year
van Beukering et al. 2007
(Adj. to 2017 dollars)
75% from tourism

4. 1,535,410 total visitors in 2016
> $1.5 billion USD/yr spent on Guam by visitors
1 in 3 jobs on Guam are in tourism industry
> 10,000 tourist weddings
> 2,000 marathon runners from overseas
Source: Guam Visitors Bureau

5. Japan
57%Korea
28%
Japanese Korean
Dolphin tour 12% 14%
Parasailing 16% 4%
Jet ski 10% 4%
Wind surfing 1% 2%
Beach visit 22% 11%
Scuba 9% 7%
Snorkeling 19% 27%
USA
5%
Taiwan
3%
China
2%
Other
5%
Tourist activities (2016)
Source: Guam Visitors Bureau

6. guamreeflife.com
guamreeflife.com

7. Alexis Sturm

9. Benthic cover (2006)
Source: NOAA Coral Reef Habitat Assessment for US Marine Protected Areas: Territory of Guam (2009)

10. Benthic and
coral health
surveys

11. Benthic and
coral health
surveys
BENTHIC COVER
LHC = Live hard coral
SC = Soft coral
RKC = Recent dead coral
DC = Old dead coral
RUB = Rubble
PVMT = Pavement
SA = Sand
CCA = Crustose coralline algae
MAA = Macroalgae
CYA = Cyanobacteria
AF = Damsel algal farm
OT = Other

12. Acropora pulchra (42%) Porites cylindrica (20%)
Pavona decussata (16%)

13. Benthic and
coral health
surveys
PHYSICAL DAMAGE
BRK = Broken branch tips
ABR = Abrasion
TPL = Toppling
FRC = Fractured colony
DISEASE
WS = White syndromes
BBD = Black band
BRB = Brown band
GA = Growth anomalies
SEB = Skeletal eroding band
OTHER
PAL = Paling
BLE = Bleaching
PR = Pigmentation response
CYA = Cyanobacterial overgrowth
Photos: Alexis Sturm
19% of colonies
affected by
physical damage

14. Benthic and
coral health
surveys
Photos: Laurie Raymundo
PHYSICAL DAMAGE
BRK = Broken branch tips
ABR = Abrasion
TPL = Toppling
FRC = Fractured colony
DISEASE
WS = White syndromes
BBD = Black band
BRB = Brown band
GA = Growth anomalies
SEB = Skeletal eroding band
OTHER
PAL = Paling
BLE = Bleaching
PR = Pigmentation response
CYA = Cyanobacterial overgrowth

15. Benthic and
coral health
surveys
Photos: Laurie Raymundo
PHYSICAL DAMAGE
BRK = Broken branch tips
ABR = Abrasion
TPL = Toppling
FRC = Fractured colony
DISEASE
WS = White syndromes
BBD = Black band
BRB = Brown band
GA = Growth anomalies
SEB = Skeletal eroding band
OTHER
PAL = Paling
BLE = Bleaching
PR = Pigmentation response
CYA = Cyanobacterial overgrowth

16. 7% of colonies impacted by white syndromes

17. 1% of colonies impacted by black band disease

18. Human use
surveys

19. Human use
surveys
Ypao Beach Park Lotte Hotel
Lotte Hotel Ypao Beach Park
Monday – Sunday
7:00am to 10:00am
10:00am to 1:00pm
1:00pm to 4:00pm
4:00pm to 7:00pm

20. Human use
surveys
Ypao Beach Park Lotte Hotel
Lotte Hotel Ypao Beach Park
Monday – Sunday
7:00am to 10:00am
10:00am to 1:00pm
1:00pm to 4:00pm
4:00pm to 7:00pm

21. 6,948 human users recorded

22. = Waders
= Swimmers & snorkelers
= Watercraft
= Fishers
= Reef walkers

23. = Waders
= Swimmers & snorkelers
= Watercraft
= Fishers
= Reef walkers

25. Human user density versus coral damage prevalence
Human user density (humans/m2 within 250 m radius)
y = 35.478x + 0.1347
R2 = 0.98565
Coraldamage(%ofcolonies)

26. Contribution
• Low cost, transferable
method to measure human
user density in coastal
marine environments
• Found strong correlation
between human user
density and rate of coral
damage
• Supports need for outreach
and raising awareness

27. Outreach and education
Over 200 community members
trained to identify and report
reef impacts

28. Messaging to reduce human use impacts

29. Implications
• Feedback loop: Tourism impacts
coral reefs and coral reefs impact
tourism
• Importance of regulating
recreational human use activities
in marine protected areas
• Next steps: Analysis of coral
disease prevalence vs. human user
density

30. Acknowledgements
• Collaborators:
• Alexis Sturm
• Dr. Laurie Raymundo
• Adrienne Loerzel
• David Burdick
• Assistance with human use surveys:
• Marybelle Quinata
• Phil Cruz
• Interns at the Center for Island Sustainability
• Support from the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans (BSP) and the University of
Guam Marine Laboratory (UOG)
• Funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and
the Pacific Islands Climate Science Center (PICSC)