9 June 2014: Coral Triangle Day, which took place under the theme ‘Shared waters, Shared solutions,’ celebrated the marine biodiversity of the Coral Triangle region, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. Events included community beach cleanups, film screenings, fisher education programs, sustainable seafood dinners, twitter campaigns and the launch of a 360° seaview infographic.

The day aimed to raise awareness on the Coral Triangle region, which hosts 86% of the world’s turtle species, 76% of the world’s coral species and 37% of the world’s coral reef fish species. In addition, 130 million people in the region depend directly on marine natural resources, according to the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF).

In celebration of the day, EcoAdapt and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched the Coral Triangle Climate Adaptation Marketplace, an online portal that serves as a “matchmaking tool” between funders and project developers in the Coral Triangle region. The Marketplace aims to connect climate adaptation projects in the Coral Triangle region with funding sources based on three criteria: project location; adaptation focus; and project budget or grant amount. All six Coral Triangle countries plus Fiji are eligible to join the marketplace.

The marketplace “will help bring about more climate adaptation initiatives in the Coral Triangle and help strengthen the resilience of the millions of people in the region against the effects of climate change,” said Jackie Thomas, WWF Coral Triangle Programme Leader.

The Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) provide support for the Marketplace. [Coral Triangle Day Website] [Coral Triangle Climate Adaptation Marketplace] [EcoAdapt Website] [WWF Coral Triangle Website]