Most of the world’s coral reefs, and the communities that directly depend on them, are in the tropics, so one might imagine the research on them being led by scientists and institutions based in tropical countries. The reality, however, is far different, a new study shows.
Coral reef science is actually dominated by researchers from afar, the study found. They come mainly from institutions in high-income countries, and the contributions of researchers from tropical, lower-income nations aren’t adequately recognized.
“Parachute” research that leaves out local input is common, and when more local researchers are included, it’s often perceived as being done in a tokenistic way, according to the study, which was published in NPJ Ocean Sustainability on April 24.
Lead author Cassandra Roch, a marine scientist at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, said the same communities that face the most direct impacts from the demise of coral reefs are left out of the scientific study of reefs. “They’re the ones that are facing the harshest consequences from it,” she told Mongabay. Roch pointed to “the inequity of the whole situation,” with scientists from “countries that are not contributing highly to emissions being excluded or marginalized from the research landscape.”
Global coverage of living coral reefs has declined by half since the 1950s, due in part to climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Visualization shows collaborative networks in coral reef research for the period 2018-22 based on the countries in which authors’…
This article was originally published on Mongabay
