Do We Have Time to Save Our Coral Reefs?

Dr Mark Spalding talks to;

Dr Madhavi Colton:
Coral Reef Alliance

Dr Tessa Hempson:
Oceans Without Borders

Richard Vevers:
The Ocean Agency

• The oceans are getting warmer, leading to coral bleaching, where coral is starving because the algae has died.

• We have lost 50% of corals in the Great Barrier Reef, where you can smell the reefs rotting and dying.

• When the reef dies, then the ecosystem that needs the reef also dies

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THE VALUE OF REEFS

• 220 million people rely on reefs for food (there is a cocktail of threats to food security)

• Reefs provide a barrier to weather.

• Reefs are a huge draw in tourism, although an unregulated industry is also a threat.

There is hope if we act quickly, but restoration is hard.

Ecosystems, as species evolution, can help rescue reefs from climate change. We need to reduce local stresses and chose what to protect, target diverse areas, work with the CORAL REEF ALLIANCE to create a blueprint on how to unite communities to save coral reefs.