Ecosystems

Coral Reef

Man and coral reef

An economic resource: tourism

The first economic resource relating to this ecosystem is tourism. Almost all Tropical countries and many countries in the Indian Ocean have wonderful reefs along their coasts. Tourists include lovers of underwater sports, simple amateurs equipped with masks and fins, fishermen and people who prefer the white, sunny beaches which are the fruit of the erosion of the reef corals. The countries that live mainly on "reef" tourism are approximately one hundred . It has been calculated that in Florida alone, the income from naturalistic tourism amounts to approximately 1.6 billion dollars a year. All the Caribbean countries depend on tourism for about one half of their gross domestic product.