THE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is a non-profit, environmental NGO that is on a mission to save the world’s coral reefs. We work collaboratively with communities to reduce direct threats to reefs in ways that provide long-term benefits to people and wildlife. In parallel, CORAL is actively expanding the scientific understanding of how corals adapt to climate change and is applying this information to give reefs the best chance to thrive for generations to come. Our broad expertise uniquely positions us to rally the conservation community around scalable and effective solutions for coral reefs around the world.

CORAL has a bold plan to establish 45 Adaptive Reefscapes around the world by 2045. Our strategic plan includes a roadmap to help save coral reefs at a global scale. We're engaging the whole coral conservation community and rallying the field around a scalable, realistic, global approach to saving coral reefs.

We're continuing to grow our organization's scientific capacity to solve the biggest roadblocks to saving coral reefs. In parallel, we're using these scientific findings to inform our conservation programmatic work.

Our research shows that to save the world's coral reefs and preserve their benefits for people and wildlife, reef-building corals must successfully adapt to a changing climate through the process of evolutionary rescue.

For the last 25 years, CORAL has been delivering high-quality conservation programs that have made a difference in the world. Our work has even pioneered a new area of science related to helping corals adapt at regional scales. All this has prepared CORAL to take the next step

We have launched an innovative global effort to save coral reefs to share our approach to developing and implementing Adaptive Reefscapes.

We are leading several scientific research projects that aim to improve our understanding of how species adapt to rapid environmental change and apply that information to develop conservation plans for the regions in which we work.

We work in four regions: Indonesia, Fiji, Hawai'i and Honduras. We are improving reef health by building effective and durable local management systems through strategic partnerships, regional leadership, mitigating threats to water quality, and strengthening fisheries management thereby contributing to the creation of an Adaptive Reefscape in each of the following regions where we work: Tela Bay Honduras, Bay Islands Honduras, Northern Fiji, Namena Marine Reserve Fiji, Lesser Sunda Banda Indonesia, West Maui, South Kohala Hawaii Island.

We employ two initiatives that are aimed at addressing key threats to coral reefs. Our Clean Water for Reefs programs improves water quality, including reducing sedimentation and treating wastewater. Our Healthy Fisheries initiatives strive to restore ecosystem processes to reefs by increasing the number of herbivores.

Some of our recent key successes are:
• Connecting homes and businesses in West End, Roatán, Honduras to a wastewater treatment facility, resulting in 19 million gallons of sewage being treated each year rather than directly discharged into the marine environment.
• Supporting the growth of the Roatán Marine Park (RMP) in Honduras by building staff capacity to enforce local regulations. As reported by the Healthy Reefs Initiative, fish biomass is higher in the areas in which RMP conducts regular patrols.
• Supporting the establishment of two new marine protected areas in Honduras: Cordelia Banks and Tela Bay.
• Seeing the Honduran government declare its first coastal managed-access fishery in Laguna de Los Micos, Honduras.
• Inspiring Maui County in Hawai'i to create an ordinance that requires all new parking lots to incorporate reef-friendly design principles
• Motivating shoreline property owners in Maui to invest $19M in low impact design projects, which filter several millions of gallons of stormwater each year.
• Developing and implementing a two-pronged stream restoration approach that will reduce the amount of sediment reaching Maui's reefs
• Working with the Puakō community on Hawai'i Island to develop a solution to replace outdated wastewater treatment infrastructure with a treatment plant
• Developing a science-based monitoring plan that can be in part implemented by citizen scientists and which will measure the benefits of reducing wastewater pollution in Hawai'i Island's nearshore environment
• Working with the Kubulau community in Fiji to establish a management system for the Namena Marine Reserve, Fiji's first anchor-free marine protected area and a top global dive site