Coral Reef Alliance: 2015 Annual Report

May 01, 2016
  • Description

Over the past year, we have accomplished a great deal in our efforts to save coral reefs and we are excited to share these successes in our 2015 Annual Report. We also want to share our vision for the future of coral reefs and how this inspires our ongoing work. Many of the benefits from our reefs depend on living corals. Corals are the architects of the reef, and build the structures that provide nurseries and shelter for millions of sea animals. They provide people with livelihoods from fisheries and tourism, storm protection and sources for new medicines. These benefits are at risk as coral reefs decline around the world, but together, we can save them. Corals are struggling due to local pressures and global climate change; however, we have identified a solution that will help corals build reefs and maintain the needed benefits for people and wildlife. The answer is in the corals themselves. Corals are incredibly diverse, with many species and varieties spread across the reefs. Corals haveadapted for hundreds of millions of years, and if allowed, will continue to do so. For example, some corals can live in warmer water; others can thrive in polluted oceans. Special corals like these, and their offspring, may be best suited for the reefs of the future. Our aim is to ensure that enough of these corals survive on enough healthy coral reefs so they can repopulate other nearby reef sites. In this way, corals—and everything that depends on them—will have an opportunity to adapt to a changing environment.