25 February 2011
UNEP and Partners Release Report on Reefs at Risk
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The report, titled “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” highlights that 75% of the world's coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures, and warns that if the current situation is left unchecked, over 90% of reefs will be threatened by 2030.

22 February 2011: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC), together with the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Nature Conservancy, the World Fish Center, the International Coral Reef Action Network and the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, have released a report titled “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” which highlights that 75% of the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures.

The report, a detailed assessment of threats to coral reefs, includes analysis of global threats from climate change, including warming seas and rising ocean acidification, causing coral bleaching. It also considers local pressures, including overfishing, coastal development and pollution, which pose immediate and direct risks to more than 60% of coral reefs today.

According to the report, if the current situation is left unchecked, over 90% of reefs will be threatened by 2030, and nearly all reefs by 2050. It identifies the 27 countries most socially and economically vulnerable to coral reef degradation and loss, which include: Haiti, Grenada, Philippines, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji, and Indonesia. [Publication: Reefs at Risk Revisited] [UNEP Press Release]

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