Conservation Finance for Coral Reefs

According to Conservation Finance Alliance,

"Warm water, shallow coral reefs are some of the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on earth, covering less than 0.1% of the ocean floor yet supporting over 25% of marine species (Hoegh-Guldberg et al, 2017). They provide a wealth of benefits to people and nature, providing some $36 billion in annual tourism spending (Spalding et al. 2017), supporting global fisheries worth billions of dollars per year (Conservation International, 2018), and avoiding $272 billion annually in storm related flood damages around the world (Beck et al., 2018). Climate change driven increasing storm intensity makes the coastal protection services of reefs and related ecosystems (i.e., mangroves) even more valuable.

Despite this well documented value, coral reefs are under significant global and local degradation pressures. Greenhouse gas emissions and associated climate change impacts including intense storms, warming and ocean acidification are grave threats to coral reefs.

Studies predict losses of 70-90% of reef-building corals by mid-century (1.5°C projection) and up to 99% of corals ultimately being lost if global warming exceeds 2.0°C above pre-industrial temperatures (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2017, 2018). These global stressors are exacerbated by local drivers of degradation including harmful fishing practices, coastal development, poor waste management, agricultural runoff, and sedimentation (Andrello et al., 2022).

Financing coral reef conservation and resilience is essential. Despite extreme climate change threats and the important role of reefs in climate adaptation, the amount of climate finance in support of coral reef conservation represents only 0.15% of historical climate investment (Hoegh-Guldberg et al 2018).

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one of the main tools to protect coral ecosystems by regulating fishing and other local stressors, but even those are largely underfunded. Reports indicate that over 60% of MPAs have inadequate funding to provide even basic services, and with efforts to increase MPA coverage as part of global conservation objectives, the challenge of providing adequate sustainable funding will greatly increase (Asian Development Bank, 2021). Securing and deploying capital equitably, effectively and efficiently is critical to support the management and protection of coral reefs"