Bleaching can have serious impacts on coral reefs, and the people and industries (e.g., tourism and fisheries) that depend on them.

Socioeconomic assessments can determine the social, economic, cultural, and political impacts of coral bleaching.

Practical guidelines on how to conduct socioeconomic assessments³ for coral reefs are available online at

Practical guidelines on how to conduct socioeconomic monitoring for Southeast Asia⁴ are available online at

These guidelines may require some modification for application in other areas and cultures.

Socioeconomic impacts of bleaching can be monitored by applying these standard protocols at different times, including:

• a baseline assessment prior to bleaching, and

• a survey of key components during the height of the bleaching event and/or at least one other occasion after the bleaching event. This should be conducted on a time scale relevant to the type of impact you are measuring, so it may continue months or years after the event.

Unless there have been other major changes during that time period, the differences in the results of the monitoring program should be an indication of the socioeconomic impacts of bleaching.

³  Bunce, L., P. Townsley, R. Pomeroy, R. Pollnac, 2000 GCRMN Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management, 2^nd edition, published by Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. ISBN 0 642 32205 8.

⁴  Bunce, L., R. Pomeroy, 2003 Socioeconomic Monitoring Guidelines for Coastal Managers in Southeast Asia: SOCMON Draft under final revision.