In 1986, Apo Islanders voted overwhelmingly to set aside 8 percent of their entire reef as a reserve where no human activity, except scuba diving and snorkeling, would be permitted. "It was the best decision we ever made," beams Delmo. "Within two years, stocks of edible fish and shellfish had recovered to such an extent that we could catch all the fish we needed around our own island again."

Apo's dramatic recovery is the kind that catches the attention of reef experts who have been witnessing a tragic decline in the world's coral resources. From the South Pacific to South Florida, from Australia to the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan, coral reefs-which provide food for millions of people throughout the world-are in big trouble, with 10 percent already degraded beyond recognition and 30 percent in critical condition. If present trends continue, 70 percent of coral reefs may disappear within 40 years, says Clive Wilkinson, a coral-reef expert working at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville.

Most corals are colonial, creating masses of cups fused together. The bulk of any reef colony is composed of the abandoned calcium cups built by previous colonies. Only the upper layer is covered by living corals, which form a thin, ever-changing skin over their dead predecessors.

Coral colonies vary enormously in size, shape and color from the delicate filigree of the sea fans to the branching "antlers" of the staghorn coral to the bulging brain coral, which looks like a huge, disembodied human brain. There are button corals, fire corals, lace corals, bead corals, organ-pipe corals and vase corals, all of which resemble their namesakes-more than 600 species in all.

Reef-building corals generally prefer warm tropical and subtropical waters and produce three types of reef: near-shore fringing reefs; barrier reefs, which are separated from shore by lagoons; and circular or U-shaped atolls, which surround a lagoon. Annual growth can be as little as 1 millimeter (0.04 in.) or as much as 20 centimeters (8 in.).

The fate of the 33,700 square kilometers (13,000 sq. mi.) of reefs in Philippine seas shows how intense the destruction can be: 90 percent of the reefs are dead or deterio-rating in the wake of human abuse. "In 1992, I surveyed over 100 prime diving sites in the country-areas known for luxuriant coral cover and abundant fish-and every one of them had been blasted to smithereens," says an expatriate British diving instructor with a decade of experience in Southeast Asia.

Philippine marine biologist Helen Yap also has documented the almost wholesale annihilation of her country's coral reefs since the early 1980s. During a 1992 dive in the Lingayen Gulf, on the northwest coast of Luzon, Yap experienced blast fishing first hand. "There were so many blasts from dynamite fishermen that I couldn't even count them during one dive," recalls Yap, who works for the Marine Science Institute at the University of the Philippines in Manila. The explosions grew so excessive that Yap and her colleagues stopped diving for fear of being blown out of the water.

In addition to dynamite, Philippine divers use heavy applications of cyanide-about 150,000 kilograms (330,000 lb.) yearly-to collect fish. The cyanide stuns the fish, sometimes even killing them outright. Worse, since the coral polyps cannot move, they are often snuffed out. In no time, poisoned reefs turn white and lifeless.

Two factors lie behind the skyrocketing use of cyanide: The aquarium trade began in the mid-1980s to pay large sums for tropical reef fish, and restaurants in Southeast Asia and China began in the early 1990s to specialize in live reef fish. The result: The price for some reef fish, like groupers, has soared to $90 a kilogram ($40 a lb.), fueling an epidemic of cyanide fishing. Robert Johannes, a retired American marine biologist now living in Australia, estimates the trade in live reef fish in Southeast Asia at between 20,000 and 25,000 metric tons a year; worth more than $1 billion.

3. Lying in about 80 feet of water off Palm Beach, Florida, this reef is covered by nearly half a meter (18 in.) of silt that smothered the, corals after a 1989 storm. Runoff from land is a common ill of reefs.

A more mysterious problem is the bleaching of corals throughout the Pacific and in parts of the Caribbean. Bleaching occurs when polyps expel the colorful algae that live in their tissues, causing the corals to turn white. Sometimes the corals recover, sometimes they do not. Scientists have reported bleaching at 60 sites around the globe.

The cause of bleaching is uncertain. Various studies have linked it to unusually warm water temperature, to infestations of a newly discovered bacterium, to pollution or to an interaction of these. Coral experts are particularly concerned that if higher water temperatures are a factor, then global warming could doom the bulk of coral reefs.

Taken all together, these various ills could destroy ecosystems of almost unrivaled productivity and economic importance. But dire as present conditions may seem, we may now be entering a promising new era for reefs and their protection. In May 1995, 100 participants from 44 nations representing governments, non-governmental organizations, international development agencies and the private sector gathered in Durnaguete, appropriately within sight of Apo Island, and launched an action plan, the International Coral Reef Initiative, to save the world's coral reefs. This year was subsequently declared the International Year of the Reef at the Eighth International Coral Reef Symposium, held last June in Panama with 1,400 participants, including top reef scientists. The International Year of the Reef will feature coordinated reef studies throughout the world and see the launching of reef educational programs and of a renewed drive to increase funding for reef research and conservation.

2. Off Thailand, abandoned fish nets ensnare corals, causing physical damage and blocking other species from use of the reef. Careless boaters also damage reefs by dropping anchor directly on them.

5. A crown-of-thorns starfish devours corals in a Thai sea. Runoff has pumped nutrients into Thailand waters, leading to an explosion in starfish numbers. Each starfish can eat its body area in corals daily.

Delmo is proud of the island's accomplishments, as are all of Apo's residents. "When fishermen from other islands come here to see our reserve, they often can't believe their eyes," he says. "They are used to seeing dead reefs and few fish, so Apo is like an eden for them. When they learn that we set aside such a small portion of our reef, where no fishing of any kind is allowed, and that this small reserve caused fish populations on the rest of the reef to explode, they can hardly wait to go home and set up their own reserves.

Clearly, the Apo lesson is one that more coastal communities need to learn, and indeed some already have. Several small communities have launched similar programs, some pre-dating the one at Apo. Also, Thailand and the Caribbean island of Bonaire have both created reef-saving programs with similar success. Even a little effective management can go a long way toward conserving reef resources and earning hard cash for local communities. "We would certainly have lost our reef and our way of life if we hadn't taken the initiative to manage and conserve our reef" says Delmo. "We are now thinking of extending the sanctuary to cover more of our reef."

As the sun sets over Apo, splashing the sky with deep purple, Delmo's youngest son, just 10, runs up to him. "Daddy, they are fishing on our reserve," he says, clearly agitated.

Delmo grabs his flashlight and jogs off toward the beach. He thinks he knows who "they" are. As he nears a sheltered little cove, where outriggers lie in neat formation, one small boat, its lights blazing bright, sits 30 meters (100 ft.) out, over the reserve. It is not a poacher's vessel, as his son thought, but a small research boat from the Marine Laboratory at Silliman University Students are preparing to take a survey of the reef at night.