In support of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP), NOAA social scientists and their partners collect a variety of socioeconomic data in seven U.S. coral jurisdictions to track information on each jurisdiction’s population, social and economic structure, the impacts of society on coral reefs, and the impacts of coral management on communities.

A snapshot of results from the most recent NCRMP socioeconomic monitoring surveys of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) are now available as infographics. The infographics highlight residents’ perceptions, values, and level of support for coral reef management alternatives in each of the jurisdictions.

An excerpt of the newly released CNMI socioeconomic coral infographic. Credit: NOAA.

Using a stratified random sampling approach, each survey targeted CNMI and USVI residents over the age of 18, individually. The research team conducted phone surveys, via the random digit dial method, as well as face-to-face surveys. Residents were sampled proportionate to the total population of each jurisdiction, and the samples are statistically representative of CNMI and USVI.

An excerpt of the newly released USVI socioeconomic coral infographic. Credit: NOAA.

For more information on these surveys and to access the full infographics, please visit: https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/socioeconomic_CNMI.html and https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/socioeconomic_USVI.html.

These are the sixth and seventh infographics published related to the socioeconomic component of NCRMP. The Coral Reef Conservation Program/NCCOS team is in the process of drafting technical reports detailing the results of the Hawaii, Guam, CNMI, and USVI surveys, as well as beginning indicator analysis to integrate data from all seven U.S. coral reef jurisdictions. Following the calculation of socioeconomic indicators, the second round of socioeconomic monitoring surveys will commence in 2018.

For more information, contact Jarrod.Loerzel@noaa.gov or Peter.Edwards@noaa.gov.