Coral Triangle

WWF’s way of conserving the planet’s natural resources combines our unmatched global reach with a foundation in science, it involves action at every level – from local to global – and it ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.

WWF is working at all levels – with multinational companies, governments, local communities and fishers – to advance conservation in the Coral Triangle. Our aim is to eliminate illegal and destructive fishing practices, to help the six governments implement a sustainable management plan for the use of their shared waters, to better protect marine and coastal areas, to eliminate bycatch and to enable local sustainable management of natural resources and ecotourism.

WWF is focusing on key areas that present the best opportunities to meet the challenges facing the Coral Triangle today.

Governance
In May 2009, WWF supported the launch of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), which included commitments by six governments to safeguard marine resources and ensure income and food security for the millions of people who depend on those resources.

• Improving Governance of the Coral Triangle
• USAID Support to the Coral Triangle Initiative

Promoting sustainable tuna fisheries
The Coral Triangle generates 50 percent of the world’s tuna production. WWF is developing new approaches to fisheries management that will channel profits back to tuna fishers and buyers in Coral Triangle countries. We’re working to reduce illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; implement incentives for sustainable fishing practices; and engage civil society, fisheries and restaurants in the management of their oceanic fisheries resources.

• WWF’s work with tuna species
• Promoting sustainable tuna fisheries
• Learn more about the WWF Tuna Think Tank
• Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Tuna Fisheries

Establishing and financing marine protected areas

Coastal communities across the Coral Triangle depend on seafood as their primary source of protein and income generation. WWF is providing the science to locate the crucial spawning grounds that delineate marine protected areas (MPAs) and no-take zones, and are working with governments, local communities, and other stakeholders as well as environmental NGOs to support the identification, establishment and sustainable financing of a network of MPAs across the Coral Triangle. We are doing this by: Identifying and setting up finance mechanisms such as public and private partnerships and payments for ecosystem services; helping to develop cost models that accurately estimate the operational costs of MPA networks; establishing coordinated MPA sites into networks to enable cost-saving and management benefits; and researching the contribution of marine habitats in terms of goods and services, and how MPA networks can support this contribution into the future.

• Marine Protected Areas (MPA)
• MPA work in the Coral Triangle

Building a sustainable live reef food fish trade

The catch of live reef fish for the Asian restaurant trade is a vast and lucrative industry. WWF is working with fishers and buyers to replace destructive practices with sustainable ones: reduction of overfishing, adoption of best management practices and sustainable full-cycle mariculture, and purchase of sustainably sourced fish by restaurants in targeted Asian cities.

• Building a Sustainable Live Reef Food Fish Trade
• The International Standard for the Trade in Live Reef Food Fish

Protecting marine turtles in the Indo-Pacific

The Coral Triangle is home to six of the seven species of marine turtles. Turtles face significant threats, especially from bycatch (accidental death in fishing nets intended for other species). Recognizing the crucial role turtles play in marine food chains, WWF is protecting critical nesting, foraging, and migratory turtle habitats by establishing protected areas. We’re also reducing turtle bycatch through turtle-friendly fishing gear exchange programs.

• WWF's turtle projects in the Coral Triangle
• Tackling Fisheries Bycatch
• Reducing marine turtle bycatch
• The Coral Triangle Fishers Forum (CTFF)

Reducing the impacts of climate change and tourism

Climate change is arguably the single biggest threat to the Coral Triangle’s marine productivity. To reduce the impact on the coral reefs and coastal communities, WWF is working with an alliance of governments and industry leaders to support emissions reduction measures and to implement adaptation measures such as mangrove protection and plantings.

• Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change and Tourism

For additional information on WWF's Coral Triangle Program, please visit

• WWF-Fiji
• WWF-Indonesia
• WWF-Malaysia
• WWF-Papua New Guinea
• WWF-Philippines
• WWF-Solomon Islands