• The Australian Institute of Marine Science provides numerous valuable resources for managers, including worldwide coral ID and survey manuals, long-term monitoring data spanning much of the Great Barrier Reef, and research overviews.

• The Coral Finder Toolkit includes the Coral Finder, a practical underwater tool for learning coral identification in the Indo-Pacific, and the Coral Hub website, a centralized Indo-Pacific coral identification resource that includes a complete self-paced video training course.

• The Coral Reef Targeted Research & Capacity Building for Management Program is an international coral reef research initiative that provides excellent resources for coral reef researchers, managers, and policy makers. The tools section of the website includes guides, toolkits, and assessment tools for a variety of reef management subjects, including marine remote sensing and reef rehabilitation. Additional reports, research updates, and articles can be found in the publications section.

• The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) hosts a number of valuable downloadable publications, including management protocols and guidelines.

• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) produces numerous publications on management, research, and general reef issues, which are available for download.

• The International Society for Reef Studies lists coral reef field stations and management authorities in its resource section.

• IUCN has developed a number of tools to support conservation action, some of which are available in multiple languages.

• The IUCN Global Marine Programme has extensive resources about marine conservation. Of particular interest are the publications about marine protected areas and the Climate Change and Coral Reefs Marine Working Group pages, which include publications, projects, news, and a bibliography.

• OneOcean, the Philippines' coastal and fisheries management information center, offers downloadable publications related to coral reef management (both general and specific to the Philippines), including project reports, technical papers and references on coastal resource management (CRM), policy papers, and CRM plans.

• The National Marine Protected Area Center includes the Marine Protected Areas Inventory, a comprehensive geospatial database designed to catalog and classify marine protected areas within US waters, as well as additional MPA information and maps. Other resources on the website include a virtual library, Center publications, FAQs, training information, and a glossary.

• The National Marine Sanctuaries website has an entire management section with resources for managing marine protected areas.

• The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has information on reef management, research, and evaluation specific to the sanctuary.
• Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary provides a Sanctuary Management 101 page that helpfully organizes information from the National Marine Sanctuaries site.

• The National Parks Conservation Association provides a list detailing coral reef sites in national parks.

• ReefBase has an extensive coral reef management section with information on monitoring, MPAs, capacity, legislation, gaps, and recommendations. The site also includes downloadable reports on lessons learned and good practices in the management of coral reefs and marine protected areas.

• The Reef Resilience website, maintained by the Nature Conservancy, is devoted to providing coral reef managers with information about building coral reef resilience through marine protected area design and management. It includes training module toolkits, case studies, a resilience training course, and a listing of publications and further resources.

• Reef Scenarios is an online portal that enables users to access and use a simulation model called CORSET (Coral Reef Scenario Evaluation Tool) to explore coral reef futures at regional scales. 

• SeaWeb provides extensive information and resources about Ecosystem-Based Management.

•  Science-to-Action studies marine managed area effectiveness and provides a number of relevant tools and publications for managers and stakeholders.

• STINAPA Bonaire manages the Bonaire National Marine Park. Their website has a general section on understanding park management, a detailed communications plan for the Bonaire's national parks, and a publications section.

• The United States Coral Reef Task Force has a resources section with documents relevant to managers, including a management guide, funding opportunities, and relevant legislation.

Back to the main online resources page »