Rapid assessment of management parameters for coral reefs

To facilitate this important understanding, Project RAMP (Rapid Assessment of Management Parameters) was developed to be integrated into the worldwide coral reef database project (ReefBase). The specific purpose of Project RAMP is to provide a set of indicators covering the range of human factors potentially having an impact on coral reefs. A review of human activities actually or potentially affecting coral reefs resulted in a set of indicators (chapter 1) and guidelines for obtaining and coding information on the indicators (chapter 2). The indicators are organized according to proximity to the designated reef (e.g., national, regional, and local); context (political, socioeconomic, and cultural); reef uses (fishing, mining, tourism/recreation, etc.); and governance (institutional frameworks, knowledge bases, plans, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation). While all indicators identified are important for understanding human factors associated with reef management, some are more so than others. It is clear that in some cases the costs (personnel, time, and money) associated with data collection may prohibit obtaining information to assess all indicators; therefore, indicators are classified into categories indicating the degree of importance for the database so that users can decide how to allocate their efforts in data acquisition. (Author abstract, modified)