The Coral Reef Alliance

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is the only international organization working exclusively to protect the planet’s coral reefs. We build strong marine protected areas by engaging local communities in grassroots conservation projects that benefit both reefs and people.

CORAL’s collaborative conservation approach includes:

* working with communities to identify and solve conservation challenges;
* providing education and training to change attitudes and behaviors;
* helping marine protected area staff better manage their resources; and
* creating incentives for sustainable financing.

Our framework for creating healthy coral reef communities—our Coral Reef Sustainable Destination (CRSD) approach—is a holistic model that strengthens a local community’s ability to manage and protect their own coral reef resources. In each of the nine project sites in which we work, we focus on six areas—(1) sustainable business practices, (2) conservation partnerships, (3) new financing opportunities, (4) local threat reduction, (5) effective management, and (6) community benefits—to create conservation-based benefits for reefs and the people who depend on them.

Because each project site in which we work has its own set of challenges—local, cultural, geographic, or otherwise—our conservation approach has been designed for flexibility and maximum impact within a variety of situations. When CORAL starts working in a new project site, we first evaluate the community’s existing activities using the six indicators described above. We then work with community members over time to build increased capacity and opportunity in each area. At the end of the process, our success is measured by each community’s ability to effectively manage its own resources, protect coral reefs, and support a healthy local economy at the same time.