Conservation International (CI) is working on many fronts to protect our oceans, and one partnership in particular aims to conserve most of the world’s known coral species. In a vast marine protected area, traditional sea turtle hunters learn of alternatives to the meat and eggs harvested for food and cultural ceremonies. To stop illegal poaching of sharks for their fins, local villagers become patrollers of coastal waters with the power to make citizens’ arrests.
Coral reefs are among the most beautiful, yet often misunderstood, marine ecosystems on our planet.
Coral reefs are actually made up of hundreds of types of reef-building corals and thousands and thousands of individual coral polyps. Reef-building corals have a hard skeleton made from calcium carbonate under a soft body of tissues. It is these skeletons that, over thousands of years, build up and form the foundation of coral reefs.
Reef-building corals thrive in clear, shallow waters in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Their skeletal shapes provide abundant hiding places and homes for nearly one-third of marine species such as snails, anemones, sponges and fish, to name just a few.
But while coral reefs support amazing diversity, around the world they are under intense threat from over-fishing, pollution, increased levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans and even irresponsible tourism. What scientists have learned is that corals and the coral reefs they make up are bellwethers for ocean health and are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The Coral Triangle Initiative is a government partnership dedicated to promoting healthy oceans by helping people manage their marine resources through creating and strengthening Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), promoting Seascape management at a large scale, improving fisheries, adapting to climate change and recovering threatened species.
For more information see Coral Triangle Initiative
