Coral Reefs

Below are summarised some of the major coral reef initiatives:

• The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) - The (ICRI) is a partnership between governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations which is striving to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems.


• Coral Triangle Initiative - Many other initiatives are currently under way, one of the largest being the 'Coral Triangle Initiati ve' which was launched in December 2007 by President Yudhoyono of Indonesia and has gained support and funding from world leaders to conserve the coral reefs of south east Asia. This area is a 'hotspot' of global diversity with more than 75% of all coral species found here, 35% of the world's coral reefs, at least 3 000 fish species and the largest area of mangrove forest in the world. And a total annual value of coral reefs is US$2.3 billion. The regional and world leaders who have signed the initiative have committed to conserve 20% of the land and 30% of the water as protected areas in linked networks.


• Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean - CORDIO (Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean) is a research based network that supports monitoring, research, and capacity building for sustainable use and protection of marine environments. Set up in 1999 following the mass coral bleaching and mortality in the Indian ocean in 1998, their recent report in 2008 highlights notable steps forward in research on spawning aggregations, coral reproductive patterns and zooxanthellae dynamics, as well as reporting on on-going reef management initiatives, and priority setting.


• CRISP: Coral Reef InitiativeS in the Pacific - This program aims to improve the capacity to manage coral reefs sustainably for the benefit of Pacific people. It was implemented by 18 technical agencies with projects in 17 countries and has assisted in establishing 30 MPAs in 12 different countries and cooperating with the Locally Marine Managed Area network to promote community-based management at the scale of small island economies. A special focus has also been in providing tools to assess the economic value of coral reefs and MPAs to user communities. While other projects include developing sustainable fisheries markets based on cultured reef fish larvae for reseeding depleted lagoons, cage culture farming and supplying aquarium markets; assessing the effectiveness of using transplant methods for reef restorations; and collecting invertebrates for research into bioactive compounds, some of which are showing strong pharmaceutical potential.


• The Micronesia Challenge - The Micronesia Challenge was launched in 2006 and five Micronesian governments including the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the U.S. Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have committed to effectively conserve at least 30% of their near shore marine resources and 20% of terrestrial resources by 2020.


• The Caribbean Challenge - The Caribbean Challenge was inspired by the Micronesia Challenge and in 2008 five Caribbean governments pledged to protect at least 20% of their marine and coastal habitats by 2020. The Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, the Dominican Republic and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are all actively participating in this initiative and the Bahamas have already added 3.2 million acres of terrestrial and marine habitats to their network of Marine Protected Areas.