The Importance of Coral Reefs
For most of us, coral reefs are out of sight. But considering the suite of ecosystem benefits we receive from reefs, they shouldn't be out of mind.
Despite their small geographical footprint, just 0.1% of our planet’s surface, coral reefs are essential biodiversity hotspots, functioning as complex living systems that shelter, feed, and sustain an incredible variety of marine organisms. Over 800 types of coral support 25% of all marine life, including over 4,000 species of fish. From microscopic organisms to sharks and rays, the ecosystem is complex and diverse, rich in a variety of species found nowhere else on the planet.
Biodiversity
The difference between a thriving coral reef and a degraded one becomes strikingly clear during storm events — they are one of nature's most ingenious flood protection systems. Healthy reefs act as living seawalls, breaking wave energy with an efficiency that no human-engineered barrier can match, annually preventing more than $4 billion in potential storm damage. Without these fragile yet powerful ecosystems, coastal communities would face a devastating reality: storm damages would more than double, land flooding would increase by 69%, and 81% more people would be exposed to nature's most destructive forces.
Coastal Protection
Coral reefs are the silent engines of global food security, generating $6.8 billion annually through fisheries that sustain entire communities and cultures around the world. These underwater ecosystems are not just economic resources, but lifelines for billions of people, providing critical protein sources and employment that play a pivotal role in reducing poverty in coastal regions. For thousands of years, small-scale and artisanal fisheries have represented a delicate and intricate cultural link between human societies and our ocean.
Fisheries
Coral reefs are economic powerhouses that generate an astounding $35.8 billion annually in tourism and recreation — a figure that likely underestimates their true value. Reef tourism creates a global economic ripple effect, supporting international industries from airlines and hotel chains to local dive operators and small local artisan industries. These fragile marine ecosystems are interconnected economic engines far more complex and valuable than they appear on the surface.
Economy
Mental health & well-being
Coral reefs offer far more than ecological or economic value— they are powerful sanctuaries for our mental health. Our evolutionary wiring responds profoundly to high-biodiversity environments — it’s what we find most “beautiful”. On a deeper level, we interpret them as rich in natural, nourishing resources. As one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet, simply visiting and enjoying reefs is shown to reduce stress, increase happiness, and provide a sense of meaning that reconnects us to something larger than our daily anxieties.
Coral reefs hold significant cultural and spiritual importance for many coastal indigenous communities. For thousands of years, reefs have been integrated into indigenous ways of life, with some communities recognising them as sacred areas. Reefs function as sources of traditional knowledge, sustainable food and medicine, and foundations of cultural identity. From the Torres Strait to Micronesia to the Caribbean, indigenous peoples have developed relationships with coral reefs, seeing them as living beings deserving respect and care rather than merely as resources to be used, resulting in management practices that benefit both communities and ecosystems. The degradation of reef systems is a direct threat to coastal indigenous cultures globally.
Culture
Stories from
the reef:
Ocean Salons
Cleaner wrasse and cleaner shrimp feed on parasites and dead skin off the bodies, mouths and gills of larger species like barracuda, sharks or manta rays. The cleaner species have territories on the reef known as ‘cleaning stations’ and ‘client’ species know exactly where to go to get their spa treatment.
Cleaner species have specific movements to signal that they’re open for ‘business’ and fish may even queue up for their favourite cleaner! Some studies have shown that visiting pelagic species get to jump the queue over reef-resident fish!
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