The 5.7 million km² of the Coral Triangle is home to the highest diversity of marine life on earth. This region stretches across six countries: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. The Coral Triangle is recognized as an area of global significance, blessed with over 75 % of known coral species, over 30 % of the world’s coral reefs, over 3,000 species of fish, and the greatest extent of mangrove forests of any region in the world.
These extraordinary marine biological resources directly sustain the lives of over 120 million people and benefit millions more worldwide. The primary human benefits include:
- Direct livelihood, income and food security benefits;
- Major spawning and nursery ground for commercially important tuna species, which support multi-billion dollar industry;
- Healthy marine ecosystems contribute to a growing nature-based tourism industry;
- Healthy reefs systems and mangroves help to protect coastal communities from storms and tsunamis, reducing casualties, injuries, and reconstruction costs;
- On many of the region’s islands, the marine and coastal realm is a foundation for traditional cultures and social fabric.
Unfortunately, the marine-based natural resources of the CT and the economic and social benefits they generate are at risk, threatened by a range of factors. These include over-fishing, destructive fishing practices such as cyanide and blast fishing, coral bleaching and ocean acidification due to global climate change, pollution, and sedimentation from coastal development. Individually, each of these threats can weaken the living ocean’s health; combined they are causing a situation of crisis that only a transformational approach can resolve.
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