ALM UNDP

Summary:

 The Coral Triangle (CT) is the center of the world's coral reef diversity, holding more than 75% of the known coral species and about 3000 species of reef fish among other reef flora and fauna. These resources directly provide livelihoods for more than 20 million people and are the spawning grounds for the world's most valuable tuna fishery while supporting a robust and growing marine tourism industry. The CT is a major center of coral evolution and is critically important as a target for Indo-Pacific coral reef conservation because of growing threats from climate change, destructive fishing practices and pollution. It provides a refuge from which Indo-Pacific reefs have been reseeded and re-established over millennia, demonstrating the resilient and enduring nature of its coral reefs in the face of major disturbances and prior climate changes. The highly connected, diverse reef systems of the CT link to those of the Pacific through stepping stone reefs in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Spanning multiple political and cultural boundaries, the CT ecoregion maintains biogeographic integrity defined by currents and species distribution patterns such that the value of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. All of the CT Pacific governments have taken important steps toward addressing threats to their marine and coastal resources. However, in the face of rising threats the current response is insufficient, and additional commitments and action are urgently needed. Through formation of the CTI, they have also acknowledged that each countries' individual efforts can be enhanced through cooperation with their neighbors. The following factors are relevant for the multilateral collaboration. Most of the threats to the biological resources of the CT are regional in scope and require regionally coordinated solutions. Examples include the destructive practices used in the live reef food fish trade; illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing across the region; and climate change impacts. Highly migratory species (e.g., commercially valuable tuna stocks, endangered sea turtles, marine mammals) cross national boundaries; their effective management requires multi-national collaboration. A coordinated multilateral partnership among the CT countries is much more likely to attract significant public and private funding from external sources,