Coral Triangle

An unprecedented commitment to address threats to the world’s oceans

View an article on thegef.org about a breakthrough approach to help reduce bycatch and ensure a more sustainable future. Read more

A new study analyzing the destruction of Southeast Asia’s coral reefs by blast fishing finds that an ounce of prevention is indeed better than a pound of cure. The authors of the study in the journal Conservation Letters find that using marine patrols and enforcement to prevent blast fishing can be 70 times more cost-effective than rebuilding those reefs after the damage is done.

WWF announced its intent to actively engage in the independent assessment of skipjack tuna fisheries in part of the Coral Triangle following today’s declaration by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) to seek Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

A new, six-country Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI) was launched today at a Leaders’ Summit in Manado, North

Sulawesi; a series of new commitments by the six governments to an unprecedented

cooperative effort to safeguard the world’s richest marine resources and ensure the income,

livelihoods and food security for millions who depend on these resources.

Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, threatening the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to a new study from World Wildlife Fund.

New figures released by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today show that only 1 percent of the sustainable palm oil available on the market has been bought, raising concerns that one of the major solutions to halting deforestation of tropical forests is not catching on fast enough.  Rapid increases in the production of palm oil, which is found in everything from cosmetics to ice cream to chocolate bars, has caused extensive land clearing in places like Borneo and Sumatra, resulting in loss of habitat for endangered species like tigers and orangutans and contributing to climate change.

Potentially widespread and severe coral bleaching is predicted this winter, which could cause immense damage to some of the world’s most important marine environments including the Coral Triangle of SE Asia and the Western Pacific, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns.

Boston, Mass. – Continued mismanagement could force some tuna populations to quickly go the way of cod, a highly threatened fishery that once helped shape economies of whole nations, leading scientists said in the symposium “Last Best Chance for Tuna: Learning from the Cod Collapse” at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Boston on February 18.

Washington D.C.— As 17 countries and 30 organizations launch the International Year of the Reef today, three major environmental groups – World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International – call on governments, businesses, scientists, non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world to vastly increase actions to protect coral reefs. The International Year of the Reef 2008, designated by the International Coral Reef Initiative, is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and to motivate action to protect them.

Washington DC– The bluefin tuna population is close to collapse because of over-fishing, lack of comprehensive management, illegal fishing in the East Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas, and insufficient measures taken by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), according to WWF and eight other conservation organizations. The organizations voiced their concerns in a letter sent to Dr. William T. Hogarth, Director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service and the chairman of ICCAT today.

WASHINGTON DC –Members of the world’s leading environmental organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, today hailed the leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for approving S. 1580, the Coral Reef Conservation Reauthorization Act (CRCRA), and in particular including a new program with dedicated funding for international coral reef conservation.

Washington - World Wildlife Fund officials today offered strong praise for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in approving S. 2020, a bill that reauthorizes the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA).

WASHINGTON --WWF welcomes the announcement this weekend by the Australian and Indonesian governments of the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership. The Australian Government aims to contribute $30 million over four years to the partnership and encourages other government, private sector and non-government organizations to meet a target of $100 million to protect and rehabilitate large areas of forest across Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo).

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - At yesterday's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, 21 world leaders endorsed a new proposal to safeguard the rich marine resources of the Indo-Pacific region for future generations. The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security aims to bring together six governments in a multilateral partnership to conserve the extraordinary marine life in the region. The proposal was endorsed in the Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development.  U.S. President George W. Bush welcomed this Initiative during the Summit.

WASHINGTON  — A new study published today in the journal BioScience presents a first-ever natural classification system of the world’s coastal waters that will help improve priority setting and conservation planning for marine habitats. The report, titled "Marine Ecoregions of the World: a bioregionalization of coast and shelf areas" was written by lead authors Mark Spalding, senior marine scientist at The Nature Conservancy and Helen Fox, marine biologist at World Wildlife Fund, along with coauthors from 10 partner organizations.

Washington - The first ever comprehensive survey of Fiji's largely uncharted Great Sea Reef, the world's third longest barrier reef, has revealed a staggering array of life, including a new species of reef fish, World Wildlife Fund announced today.