We recently held our annual State of the Reef Address, which highlighted the urgent need for action to protect coral reefs. Heather Starck, the Executive Director of the Coral Reef Alliance, emphasized the devastating impact of climate change, overfishing, pollution, and other human activities on coral reefs around the world. Coral reefs are critical ecosystems that provide food and livelihoods for millions of people; their preservation is vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Heather stressed that coral reefs are still in decline. This means that nearly 1 trillion dollars annually in food, tourism, and coastal protection are in jeopardy. Our science is telling us that 75% of reefs are currently threatened and this figure is anticipated to climb to 90% by 2030. \u201cWe’re also seeing that Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease <\/a>in the Western Caribbean is spreading at 155 meters per day\u201d according to Heather and the CORAL team scientists. This is a highly lethal disease that started in 2014 and continues to spread rapidly across the Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there\u2019s urgency to act, the team at CORAL has reason for hope. Starck shared with us that, \u201cfor example, 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion were recently made at the Our Ocean conference<\/a> this month in Panama including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors.\u201d We find hope in the fact that 193 countries within the UN agreed to the first of its kind high seas treaty to protect 30 percent of our lands and Oceans by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n