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We Are All Alive: Understanding Connections between People and Coral Reefs in Samoa
Summary
This study combined ecological surveys, socioeconomic data, and local interviews to understand the relationship between Samoan communities and the coral reef ecosystems they depend on. It highlights the importance of integrating local knowledge with scientific data when assessing ecosystem health threats including plastic pollution.
This work seeks to incorporate ecological research methods, socioeconomic data analysis, and local story collection into one understanding of coral reefs on the island of Upolu in Samoa. Data collection utilized transects and timed dives to assess four reef health indicators, and socio-economic indicators were sourced from the Samoa Bureau of Statistics. Interviews were also conducted to gain Samoan perspectives on the importance of coral reefs. Findings include patterns between the socioeconomic factors of population demographics, unemployment rates, education, and improved water, waste, and sanitation facilities and the environmental indicators of prevalence of plastic, percentage cover of living coral, parrotfish population size, and fish species richness. The ecological assessment showed that Palolo Deep was by far the healthiest reef. Interview responses indicate that Samoans care about coral reefs for a variety of reasons, which may be part of what makes certain reefs healthier, connecting people and reefs into one codependent system.
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