Coral reefs are the world’s richest repositories of marine biodiversity, and are the largest living structures on earth. Coral reefs are also critical economic assets for almost 100 countries around the world, and provide goods and services worth billions of dollars in tourism, sustenance, renewable resources, coastal protection and potential income generation to impoverished communities. Yet two thirds of the world’s reefs are under severe threat from the cumulative impacts of economic development and associated impacts of climate change. Like rainforests, these highly productive, complex ecosystems are under stress throughout their distribution, and many are showing signs of rapid decline.

The root causes of the deterioration of coral reefs have historically been attributed to direct human impacts, such as over fishing and destructive fishing practices, chronic forms of pollution, including untreated sewage, and sedimentation and physical alteration associated with coastal development. More recently, managers have begun to look upstream to deforestation and agricultural practices in the watershed which lead to sedimentation and nutrient run-off downstream, suffocating reefs and stimulating the growth of algae, which can alter the community structure of reefs in over-fished conditions. Over the last decade and a half, climate-related episodes, particularly those associated with increased sea-surface temperatures have also begun to have significant impacts on coral reef ecosystems. It is now suspected that the combination of more extreme climate events/climate change and traditionally chronic forms of stress are acting synergistically to accelerate the deterioration of coral reefs. It is also believed that this combination of stresses is challenging the ability of coral reefs to adapt. That the negative trends appear to be observed in all coral reef regions of the world clearly indicates the global scope of the problem, and hence the need for a global coordinated response to it.

Equally alarming is that (i) there are major gaps in global knowledge on how to manage coral reef ecosystems that are faced with this new combination of stresses; and (ii) much knowledge is not reaching policy makers and coral reef managers in useable form. There are four major causes of these problems: (a) insufficient and un-coordinated research at local, sub-regional, and global scales on what forces are most seriously damaging coral reef ecosystems and what actions could address them; (b) inadequate scientific capacity for coral reef monitoring, research and management in the developing world, where most reefs are located (this capacity is concentrated in the developed world); (c) weak links between scientific knowledge of stress forces and ecosystem drivers on the one hand and of appropriate coral reef management policy and action on the other; and (d) little integration of reef management knowledge into related development disciplines such as economics and law.

Up until now, research concerning coral reefs has been dominated by independent, and often opportunistic, lines of investigation. This has led to a fragmentation of research efforts and a difficulty in distilling information that can be compiled globally and directly applied to conservation and management.

The Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management (CRTR) Program was estabilished to provide effective coordination and teamwork among the best minds in the world—to collaboratively uncover critical unknowns and then work with others to apply the information in practical and helpful ways.

This web site introduces the CRTR Program and its participants and will be a source of information about our research throughout the Program.