The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20100923070411/http://wwf.panda.org:80/what_we_do/where_we_work/coraltriangle/

site

  1. Log in
  2. New User?
  3. Help
  4. Take action now!
  1. Home
  2. WWF?
  3. What We Do
  4. Our Earth
  5. You Can Help
  6. News & Stories
  7. Tigers
  8. ROOOAR!
  1. Home
    1. What We Do
      1. Priority Places

Coral Triangle facts and figures

  • 6 million km2 area
  • 76% of the world’s coral species
  • 6 of the world’s 7 marine turtle species
  • Sustains 120 million people
  • US$12 billion nature-based tourism industry (yearly)

What is the Coral Triangle? Find out with photos

www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public items from the Coral Triangle group pool. Make your own badge here.

Coral Triangle

News from WWF in the Coral Triangle

Sign up for our monthly newsletter (sample here) by emailing us

The Coral Triangle, the global centre of marine biodiversity, is a 6 million km2 area spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands.

Within this nursery of the seas live 76% of the world’s coral species, 6 of the world’s 7 marine turtle species, and at least 2,228 reef fish species.

 

Recent event

Fresh ideas to save tuna

In August 2010, leading scientists, economists, sociologists and one film-maker sat together to devise new ideas and approaches to reform tuna management that would help raise revenues towards this purpose in the Coral Triangle.

Find out more about this event organized by WWF and Wageningen University ►
Coral reef, Turtle Islands, Philippines.
Coral Triangle information
 What WWF is working on How you can help

 
Coral Triangle Boundary

Doing business in the Coral Triangle?

Then our Business section is for you. Find out how WWF can help you reduce your environmental footprint in this fragile region ►
Anthias under sunbeams. Swarms of anthias shelter near coral outcroppings and feed in the passing current. Fiji

What is the Coral Triangle?

Born out of the collision of tropical light, warm sea temperatures and oceanic currents, the Coral Triangle is defined by a triangular area with more than 500 coral species.

» I want to find out more about the Coral Triangle

Why is the Coral Triangle important?

The staggering natural productivity of the Coral Triangle region not only makes it unique for its wildlife and marine and coastal ecosystems, but also for the benefits derived for local communities and governments. Consider this:
  • 120 million: people directly sustained by the marine and coastal resources of the Coral Triangle
  • US$2.4 billion: sustainable fisheries benefit for all of Southeast Asia from coral reefs1
  • US$12 billion: size of the Coral Triangle nature-based tourism industry, which includes sites such as Tubbataha, Komodo, Sipadan (East Borneo), and Raja Ampat
» I want to find out more about the Coral Triangle and what WWF is doing to protect the region

There are serious problems

Rising temperature from global warming may cause higher rates of coral mortality and even local extinction in isolated, small populations. The 1997-98 El Niño weather event triggered the largest worldwide coral bleaching event ever recorded. In Southeast Asia, an estimated 18% of the region's coral reefs were damaged or destroyed.1

Meanwhile, across the Indo-Pacific region, 79% of spawning aggregations (reproductive gatherings) of reef fish have stopped forming or are in decline.2 Tuna, shark fin, turtle products and reef fish are also being taken out of the water at unsustainable rates.

» I want to find out more about Coral Triangle problems
 
 

News & Publications

Search for an article
Coral bleaching in Santelmo, Philippines

Mass coral bleaching closes dive sites, threatens future of world’s most diverse marine region

Mass coral bleaching caused by global warming is threatening the health of the Coral Triangle, a vast marine region that is home to 76% of all known corals in the world. The Malaysian government recently closed portions of world-renowned dive sites on the tropical islands of Tioman and Redang, saying they would be off limits until October to give the fragile coral reef ecosystems time to heal.

Posted on 29 July 2010 | 0 comments | Read more

Coral Triangle fishers agree on a set of recommendations to address bycatch

Bali, Indonesia—Fishers from local communities and private companies in the Coral Triangle region collectively agreed on a set of recommendations on the last day of the Coral Triangle Fishers Forum today.

Posted on 17 June 2010 | 0 comments | Read more

A tuna fishing vessel

Coral Triangle fishers respond to growing demand for more responsible fishing practices

Bali, Indonesia—Large fishing companies and small-scale fisherfolk in the Coral Triangle, together with fisheries experts and relevant government agencies will gather today for the first time to collaboratively address some of the challenges plaguing this region’s fishing industry, particularly the problem of bycatch.

Posted on 15 June 2010 | 0 comments | Read more

Local fishermen with tuna catch Sulu Sea, Philippines

Western Pacific island states taking back control of their fisheries

A group of western Pacific nations is showing the way in making major fisheries both environmentally and economically sustainable, WWF said today as the world’s leading seafood fair opened in Brussels, Belgium.

Posted on 27 April 2010 | Read more

WWF researcher monitoring coral reef Sulu Sea, Tubbataha reef Philippines

WWF hails new act to protect first and only marine UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Coral Triangle

Tubbataha Reefs, Philippines—Environmentalists celebrate a historical event as the enabling act for Tubbataha Reefs was signed into law last 6 April, after eight long years of lobbying and congressional discussion.

Posted on 15 April 2010 | 0 comments | Read more

Subscribe to this web feed

All latest stories

References

1 Burke, Lauretta, Liz Selig, and Mark Spalding. 2002. Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK

2 Sadovy de Mitcheson Y et al. 2008. A Global Baseline for Spawning Aggregations of Reef Fishes. Conservation Biology. Vol 22 (5), pp 1233-1244.

Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence. RSS/Web Feeds Bookmark and Share