Grand Kidal Reef

The Grand Kidal Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is composed from over 2,000 individual reefs and 500 islands covering an area of 318,600km2 in the Kidal Sea. The reef system stretches from the south-eastern tip of Enqusqo to the Muralilin estuary in Tar-dinuu and is divided by large channels into eastern, western and central portions. The Grand Kidal Reef can be seen from space and is the largest single structure constructed by living organisms. The reef sits between the Locufaric and Shazabi oceans and exists as its own marine biogeographic region. The reef is the largest of the !X major coral reef zones in the world and is globally recognised as the region with the highest levels of marine biodiversity. More than 69% of the worlds shallow-water reef-building coral species are found in the Grand Kidal Reef, along with 34% of global reef fish species.

The region is considered a top priority for nature conservation as the species here face threats from climate change, overfishing, offshore oil rigs, tourism and the impact of heavy maritime traffic. Conservation of the reef was a driving factor in the creation of the Kidal Environmental Agreements which were signed between the Republic of Enqusq o and Higher Tar-dinuu in 1987. Large portions of the reef are protected as marine conservation parks which has helped to limit the impacts of human use, although environmental pressures continue to exert an increasing influence on the health of the reef.

The reef has been an important cultural feature in the many cultures that surround the Kidal Sea, most prominently the Kidal cultures that inhabit the islands which are surrounded by the coral reefs.

Ecology
The Grand Kidal Reef is a unique and extremely biodiverse environment. Its status as the meeting point of the Locufaric and Shazabi Oceans and its extremely competitive ecosystem results in a highly complex biosphere with one of the highest rates of endemism in the world. The reef system contains a wide variety of habitats, facilitating even more diversity. The majority of the Grand Kidal Reef is expansive colonies of reef-building corals, which are the most recognizable feature of the environment. These reefs are contributed to by calcareous coralline algae and colonies of sponges. Additionally, in the eastern region of the reef system, where peninsulas and islands do not shield the environment from seasonal upwellings originating in the Shazabi Ocean, large colonies of giant tropical clams contribute significantly to the composition of the reef. Interspersed amongst the reef structures, seagrass meadows, and mangrove-carpeted islets form around the reef.

The Grand Kidal Reef serves as a habitat for over 1,600 distinct species of fish, many of which are endemic. These include a wide diversity of damselfish, surgeonfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, and gobies, which constitute the lower rungs of the ecosystem. The higher trophic levels are inhabited by predators such as barracudas, electric rays, and large mackerel sharks. These groups coexist with many thousands of species of invertebrates. Among the crevices of the coral, there is a menagerie of brightly colored and highly variable organisms such nudibranchs, polychaete worms, lobsters, cuttlefish, giant clams, conchs, ascidians, and cone snails. The reef system supports many species of tetrapods, both aquatic and terrestrial, as well. The Grand Kidal Reef is inhabited by two species of Sirenians, the Western Kidal Manatee and the Southern Dugong, which have mostly recovered from historical decline and now boast healthy populations throughout the region. Additionally, approximately 27 species of cetaceans have been recorded to consistently inhabit the waters surrounding the Grand Kidal Reef, ranging from the small Kidal Speckled Dolphin to the Lower Shazabi Whale. The reef system is used as a nursery for many baleen whale populations, as its shallow yet extremely productive waters create the ideal conditions to raise young.

A prominent animal inhabiting the Grand Kidal Reef is the Kidal Monk Seal, which, alongside the Kidal Tropicbird, is considered one of the primary cultural symbols of the Kidal Sea as a whole. They are extremely docile animals that can often be found resting on populated beaches across the islands of Kidal. Killing a monk seal is considered taboo among the Kidal, so they generally have little fear of humans. Due to this tameness, Kidal Monk Seals have been regionally extirpated in the eastern region of the Grand Kidal Reef, as they were easy prey for Ordrish mariners attempting to access their fur and oil. Though hunting has since been outlawed, the monk seals have been slow to recolonize their old range. Alongside mammals, many reptiles inhabit the Grand Kidal Reef. There are three species of sea snakes and four species of sea turtles within the reef system. Additionally, the reef has an endemic species of crocodilian, the Coral Crocodile, one of the world’s only surviving fully marine crocodiles.

The biodiversity of the reef is not purely aquatic. The numerous islets and atolls scattered throughout the Grand Kidal Reef are important nesting and roosting locations for a wide variety of birds, such as the Flir’s Sea Eagle and the Kidal Tropicbird. Alongside residential birds, many others migrate to the region seasonally. The highly productive ecosystem, shallow waters, and sheltered mangrove islets allow the reef system to be a vital stopover and nesting site for numerous species of migratory birds. Overall, approximately 264 species have been recorded to consistently inhabit the Grand Kidal Reef system.

Threats
Similarly to many coral reefs throughout the world, the Grand Kidal Reef system is under increasing threat due to human activity. The World Forum Association for Conservation and Wildlife has categorized it as in Severe Risk due to coastal development across the Kidal Sea and global climate change. While the Kidal Environmental Agreements have significantly slowed the degradation of the environment, increasing global temperatures have left the future of the reef system uncertain. Tropical storms and bleaching events have destroyed over a third of the coral cover in the reef system, and since the first surveys of Kidal ecology occurred in 1988, the Kidal Marine Monitoring Institute has found an almost 32% decrease in species diversity in most regions of the reef. Most of the decline has been concentrated in the past 20 years.

Kidal Development
Over the past century, the reef has been damaged due to increased development in coastal regions surrounding the Kidal. Though minor degradation has occurred since industrialization in the 1800s, the expansion of industry has grown to the point of being considered a major threat to the integrity of the ecosystem.

Oil Drilling
In 1970, Higher Tar-dinuu discovered oil off the coast of !island, and investigation and extraction in the years following severely damaged several portions of the reef system. The disruption caused by oil drilling resulted in a 10% decrease in coral cover across the Grand Kidal Reef. This initial destruction spurred widespread protests in the islands of Kidal, which eventually lead the Higher Tar-dinuuen government to sign the Kidal Environmental Agreements with the Republic of Enqusqo in 1987. This agreement established several marine conservation parks across large segments of the reef system. However, approximately 32% of the Grand Kidal Reef exists outside of these areas and is still at risk of destruction relating to petroleum extraction in and around the reefs. The economic importance of oil to Higher Tar-dinuu has slowed further action toward environmental sustainability.

The negative effects of oil continue to damage the reef periodically, with 1,053 recorded oil spills of varying intensities originating from oil rigs on the Kidal Sea over the past two decades. These spills, while usually quickly remedied, have resulted in an appreciable decrease in marine biodiversity around the Grand Kidal Reef system.

Shipping
The Grand Kidal Reef lies in one of the world’s most significant regions for international trade. Though most routes have been crafted to avoid the reefs due to the danger involved with navigating them, the scale of maritime traffic results in semi-frequent disruption. Over the last 50 years, the Tar-dinuuen Oceanic Guard reported 93 shipwrecks of varying sizes across the region, including several that have severely damaged large swathes of coral.

There have been a small number of prominent oil spills resulting from shipwrecks near the Grand Kidal Reef, the most recent being the spill of the TDS Berad on February 7, 2015. Due to a miscalculation by the ship’s navigators, the petroleum tanker ran aground on the !Reef, in the central region of the Grand Kidal Reef system. The ship left a two-kilometer-long scar on the reef and spilled approximately seven tonnes of raw petroleum into the water. Marine biologists detected an overall 4% decrease in the populations of all marine species within 50 miles of the spill and predict that the region will not fully recover to its pre-spill coral cover until 2030.

Excluding spills and physical destruction of the reef caused by shipwrecks, marine traffic has also affected the ecology in other ways. These include noise pollution disrupting local cetacean populations, and the discharge of acidic wash water into the Kidal Sea.

Pollution
Water quality in the Kidal Sea has declined significantly due to coastal development and urbanization among the Kidal nations.

This has been particularly pronounced in the reefs surrounding the Muralilin Estuary and the island of Buurin, locations near the two largest cities in the Kidal. The industrialization of these settlements has brought an influx of chemicals and toxins into the surrounding waters. Muralilin and Buurin were the first two cities to be industrialized in Higher Tar-dinuu, which resulted in the expansion of polluting industries. Though regulations and general deindustrialization have significantly reduced the effect of these enterprises on the water quality, large quantities of pollutants still accumulated in ecosystems, leading to higher rates of genetic deformities in organisms born near the cities.

However, agriculture is a more impactful source of environmental degradation in the Grand Kidal Reef. The eastern portion of the reef system has been affected the most by runoff from agricultural activities, as that is where the sector is concentrated in the Kidal region. Ordrey, the former colonizer of the eastern reefs, established large plantations for various cash crops such as tobacco, sugar, chocolate, and vanilla, which have for the most part continued to be operated even after decolonization. Runoff from these farms carries large quantities of sediments, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides into the Kidal Sea.

Fertilizers have allowed the eutrophication of some areas, leading to large algae blooms that decrease the amount of oxygen and sunlight available to the reef. Sediment runoff augments this effect, reducing the productivity of photosynthesis. In regions with significant numbers of plantations, biodiversity has dramatically decreased.

Similarly to urban pollution, herbicides, and pesticides exacerbate the issue of toxins accumulating within the ecosystem.

These issues are increased in severity due to coastal development along the coastline of the Kidal Sea. Recent economic initiatives in Higher Tar-dinuu and the RCE to sponsor the development of tourism infrastructure along their coastline have reduced the ability of natural filters such as wetlands to prevent pollutants from reaching the Grand Kidal Reef.

Despite pollution being a notable threat to the reef system, regulations established by the Kidal Sea Cooperative Union and the Kidal Environmental Agreements have decreased the scale of the issue in much of the Grand Kidal Reef.

Overfishing
The people of the Kidal Sea place great cultural importance on the practice of fishing, as for centuries it was the primary means by which they acquired sustenance. In the modern day, the environmental effects of the practice have increased in scale with the introduction of modern fishing techniques. Larger-scale fishing has disrupted ecosystems in the Grand Kidal Reef and reduced biodiversity in some regions of the reef system, especially in the former Ordrish-held territories.

Three of the four species of manatee that previously inhabited the Kidal Sea have gone extinct due to overfishing during the 19th century, and populations of several other species continue to decline to this day. These include keystone species such as parrotfish and the Kidal Javelin Shark, whose extinction would result in the destabilization of marine food chains across the Kidal Sea.

Additionally, fishing also directly damages the reef through the physical destruction of coral by trawlers and nets, and by attracting further maritime traffic.

Though the KEA officially forbids all species removal in the protected areas of the Grand Kidal Reef excluding specific cultural traditions, illegal extraction continues to occur. Alongside criminal activitivies, many non-protected areas experience legal intensive fishing that has destabilized the integrity of marine biospheres. The governments of the Kidal Sea have historically been sluggish to respond to these threats due to the economic output of fisheries.

Climate Change
Anthropogenic climate change is the most significant factor in the decline of the Grand Kidal Reef system. The increase in global temperatures has had a multitude of cascading effects on the biosphere of the Kidal Sea, with continually increasing severity. Global warming has resulted in severe marine heat waves, which decimate the delicate oceanic ecosystem. Heatwaves are responsible for mass coral bleaching events, which makes coral far more susceptible to disease and starvation. Such bleaching have increased in frequency and severity over the past 20 years. By 2025, the Kidal Marine Monitoring Institute predicts they will be an annual occurrence, at which point it will be vastly more difficult for coral reefs to sustain themselves across the Kidal Sea.

Climate change is also the cause of ocean acidification, which causes a decrease in the pH of ocean water and a subsequent decrease in the concentration of carbonate ions, therefore making it more difficult for marine calcifying organisms to construct strong calcium carbonate skeletons and shells. Species that rely on calcium-carbonate structures, such as mollusks, crustaceans, and corals, have experienced reduced survival rates for the past decade.

Warmer temperatures also make the Grand Kidal Reef less habitable for its native species, leading to migrations or population reductions. In many cases, alterations to species composition from environmental changes have cascading effects on the remainder of the Kidal biosphere. An example includes increased chick mortality for Kidal tropicbirds due to changing distribution of flying fish.

The increasing temperatures also has implications for populations of crocodilians and sea turtles, which undergo temperature-dependent sex determination. Due to globally increasing temperature, this results in imbalanced sex ratios. Unbalanced ratios may lead to increasing population instability and the eventual extinction of species that are unable to adapt.

Finally, climate change results in extreme and unpredictable weather events, which can directly damage coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems. Waves and storm surges can destroy delicate coral and suffocate colonies under displaced sand.