More than five million tourists visit Cancun each year, both directly and indirectly impacting the region's fragile marine ecosystem. As a founding member of the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative (MARTI), CORAL collaborates with its MARTI partners to combat this pressure and help communities leverage tourism as a tool for conservation.

In mid-May, our CORAL-Mexico team led a Coral Reefs and Sustainable Marine Recreation workshop for the employees of two prominent marine recreation providers in Cancun. During the two-day workshop, participants were introduced to topics such as coral reef ecology, marine resource economics, and sustainable tourism best practices. Staff from Aquatours by Dolphin Discovery and the Aquafun Company developed creative strategies for employing tourism as a tool to save coral reefs. Divided into teams, participants identified threats to the local coral reef ecosystem and brainstormed ways that marine recreation providers can mitigate, or eliminate, such negative impacts. Both companies had already completed an initial Environmental Walk-Through with CORAL, and are now undergoing a reassessment to further advance their sustainability practices.
Learn more about our projects in Mexico [6] »

Help the Reefs Quick Tip
The National Marine Fisheries Service may soon list eighty-two species of coral as threatened or endangered under the nation's Endangered Species Act. Sign the petition to support these enhanced protections!
Sign the petition [7] »

Coral Reefs in the News [8]

Province to Crack Down on Unlawful Coral Exploitation [9]
Source: Vietnamnet

Starfish Stranding Linked to Starvation [10]
Source: UPI

Leonardo DiCaprio Joins Effort to Ban Shark Fin Sales [11]
Source: The Costa Rica News

Scuba Spearfishing Ban, Aquarium Fish Collecting Limits Considered [12]
Source: Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Grazing Snails Rule the Waves: Marine Study [13]
Source: Phys.org

More News... [14]

[23] Honduras Celebrates Conservation Leadership
[24]Last month, thanks in large part to the work of CORAL and our partners, the Honduran government confirmed its commitment to conserving the country's marine environment by declaring Cordelia Banks a Site of Wildlife Importance. Cordelia is home to one of the Caribbean's largest known stands of staghorn coral ( Acropora cervicornis)—an IUCN-listed critically endangered species. Disease, climate change, and other human-related factors have decimated staghorn coral populations in recent years. The enhanced protections will ensure that one of the last thriving communities of this endangered species exists for generations to come—supporting both the surrounding marine ecosystem and the local tourism economy.
Read more about our efforts in the Winter 2011 edition of CORAL Current » [25]

Shark Sanctuary Film Debuts
This year, Raja Ampat's marine environment received a fantastic birthday present! CORAL's Sharks for the Future film, Shark Sanctuary, received much praise at its May 8th debut during Raja Ampat's birthday celebration. We held three showings throughout the day, and filled the viewing space to capacity each time! Interested in seeing the film? We plan to show Shark Sanctuary in Bali at the first ever Coral Triangle Beach Festival on June 9th, and will post a shorter version of the film soon—stay tuned.
[27]Learn more [28] »