Caribbean factsheet : Communicating the economic and social importance of coral reefs for Caribbean countries

Caribbean fact sheet to communicate the economic and social importance of coral reefs at a country and regional level. Data is provided for coral reef countries in the region and provides easy to read economic and social data for the main ecosystems services provided by coral reefs: coastal protection, fishing, and tourism and highlights their importance in the various countries' GDP. Readers will also find striking sentences that can be used in arguments to inform and convince decision makers

ICRI – USA : Turning the tide for coral reefs : Plan of action 2021-2024

The twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss have brought into stark relief the need for greater collaboration and action at the international level to conserve, manage, and restore coral reefs. It is in this context that the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Secretariat is launching its Plan of Action for 2021-2024, Turning the Tide for Coral Reefs, from its newest Chair, the United States of America. Over the course of the next three years, the ICRI Secretariat proposes to maintain progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 13 (take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts) and Goal 14 (conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources)

Use of laser interferometry for measuring concrete substrate roughness in patch repairs

The overall success and long-term durability of a patch repair is significantly influenced by the bond developed at the interface between the concrete substrate and the repair material. In turn, the bond strength is influenced by the topography (roughness) of the substrate surface after removal of the defective concrete. However, different removal methods of defective concrete produce substrate surfaces with different topographies. Hence, the ability to measure and characterise the topography of substrate surfaces is of great importance for evaluating the effectiveness of different removal methods. In this paper, the effect of two removal methods: electric chipping hammers and Remote Robotic Hydro-erosion (RRH) on the surface roughness is investigated through the use of a prototype non-contact (optical) laser interferometry measuring device. Laboratory results show that the above equipment can be used to characterise substrate roughness and confirm the ability of RRH to create rougher surfaces as opposed to chipping hammers