American Samoa Coral Reefs and Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction

Rigorously Valuing the Role of American Samoa’s Coral Reefs in Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction

Estimated Annual Benefits

Maps of American Samoa showing the distribution of the value of averted direct building damages, indirect economic activity losses, and population annually protected from flooding by coral reefs. Results at 10 m² resolution are aggregated into 2-km coastal sections.

Key Data

Annual value of protection provided by coral reefs from flooding

• Buildings: Tutuila- $25,019,327, Ta’u- $753,845, Ofu and Olsega- $77,852
• Economic activity: Tutuila- $7,074,370, Ta’u- $148,637, Ofu and Olsega- $41,228

Annual population protected by coral reefs

• Number of people: Tutuila- 570, Ta’u- 8, Ofu and Olsega- 3

Storlazzi, C.D., Reguero, B.G., Cole, A.D., Lowe, E., Shope, J.B., Gibbs, A.E., Nickel, B.A., McCall, R.T., van Dongeren, A.R., Beck, M.W., 2019, Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2019–1027.

The USGS open file report can be found at: https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191027