Reefbase: Toward Informed Management of Coral Reefs and Their Resources

ReefBase is a user friendly database on coral reefs and their resources. ReefBase aims to make reef information available to a wide range of audiences to promote awareness and inform management of coral reef systems. Method : The information in ReefBase is gathered from the published literature as well as conference proceedings, technical reports, news articles, theses and manuscripts contributed by institutions and other research groups involved in the study of coral reefs. Two mapping systems, WinMap and ReefMap are also in ReefBase. ReefMap displays standard format maps of major reef systems prepared by the

World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). These maps show land and sea areas, simple bathymetry, coral reefs and mangrove forests. Fully referenced maps enable users to assess the quality and reliability of the source information. WinMap, a low level geographic access system developed for ReefBase, provides geographic displays of data in ReefBase.

Like an electronic encyclopedia, ReefBase presents coral reef information in a relational database designed to accommodate a wide spectrum of coral reef references. The reef is the basic unit, and coverage is necessarily very broad.

The work has been supported by the European Commission and the Netherlands Government Contact : ReefBase International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management MCPO Box 2631, 0718 Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Fax: 632-8 163 183 E-mail : ReefBase@cgnet.com http://www.cgiar.org/iclarm/resprg/reefbase