Coral Triangle

Marine protected areas (MPA) are our main insurance against degradation in the Coral Triangle. For hundreds of species, these areas represent safe havens from rapacious fishing fleets and wildlife traders.

Meanwhile, for thousand of communities they provide a ‘bank’ where fish stocks can recover. For WWF, marine protected areas are simply the building blocks for conservation in the Coral Triangle.
Species in the Coral Triangle such as turtles and dugong will not survive unless they can access refuges—areas where human activities are carefully managed so that they do not damage wildlife and habitat. Marine protected areas can include several zones— “no-take”, sustainable use, research—which provide opportunities for both conservation and sustainable exploitation.

But there are still too few marine protected areas in the region. And even where they exist, often they are not effectively managed.

What we need is well-designed and well-managed networks of marine protected areas and locally managed marine areas. This is the key to preventing further biodiversity loss and fisheries collapse.

WWF is working to:

• 

  Healthy coral reef, with various hard and soft corals and reef fish. Indonesia. tropical Indo-Pacific region.
  © Brandon D. Cole / WWF-US

  Working with local communities and partners, evaluate existing conditions of marine protected areas and identify gaps in the Coral Triangle. We will use the results to draft a map identifying existing and required sites to achieve biodiversity conservation and fisheries sustainability.
  
  
• Assessing pilot marine protected areas and support the development of the necessary legal, administrative, managerial and scientific structures to underpin the establishment of larger scale marine protected areas networks.
  
  
• Creating a mechanism to support the long-term finance of valuable sites in the Coral Triangle.