Topic Guide
Living structures that sustain biodiversity, fisheries, and coastal protection
Coral reefs occupy a tiny fraction of the ocean floor yet support roughly a quarter of known marine species. They feed coastal communities, attract tourism economies, and act as natural breakwaters that reduce wave energy before it reaches shore.
Mass bleaching, disease, overfishing, and pollution have degraded many reef systems. Recovery depends on reducing local stressors while the world cuts greenhouse gas emissions that drive marine heatwaves.
Prolonged warm water forces corals to expel symbiotic algae, leading to bleaching and, if stress persists, widespread mortality.
Sediment runoff, nutrient pollution, destructive fishing, and coastal development weaken reefs before heat stress arrives—and slow recovery afterward.
Nurseries, outplanting, and larval seeding work best when designed as corridors aligned with currents and thermal refugia.
Healthy parrotfish and other grazers keep algae from smothering recovering coral colonies.
We treat Coral Reefs as a cross-cutting priority—linking science, community action, and durable policy so progress in one place can inform work worldwide.
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