CORALS
The first International Year of the Reef was announced in 1997 by the
International Coral Reef initiative, a collection of governments and private
organisations for coral reef conservationCoral reefs are a vibrant and iconic
representative of the ocean, but they
serve a far more subtle and critical
role. The reefs and their associated
ecosystems, such as mangroves and
seagrass, support up to a quarter of all
marine species in the ocean and provide
a livelihood for over 100 million people
in the form of tourism and fishing.
Without corals, coral-dependent
organisms will disappear, as will their
predators. Coral reefs also protect
coastal communities from destructive
tidal events such as storm surges and
tsunamis, and possess vast potential
for biomedical and scientific discovery.
As coral reefs die out and their
associated species go extinct, coastal
communities will lose their livelihoods,
and other ocean ecosystems will be
affected in profound and unforeseen
ways. The world faces the permanent
loss of many undiscovered marvels of
the ocean.THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR
OF THE REEF
The International Year of the Reef
(IYOR) is a year-long campaign of
events and initiatives organised by
governments, corporations,
non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), and local communities
around the world to protect coral
reefs by promoting conservation and
establishing sustainable practices.
The first IYOR was announced
in 1997 by the International Coral
Reef Initiative (ICRI), a collection of
governments and private organisations
for coral reef conservation. Amidst
concerns that increasing ocean
temperatures due to climate change
were causing widespread bleaching
of coral reefs, IYOR 1997 aimed to
support reef conservation efforts
and raise awareness the threat. A
decade later, these bleaching events
have persisted due to another effect of
increased atmospheric carbon dioxide
levels – ocean acidification. Thus, aTOP: Bleached table coral on a reef in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tofo, Mozambique.
ABOVE: A healthy leather coral (Alcyoniidae)
IMAGES: Shutterstock