33rd, ICRI General Meeting
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Swedish contribution to the Secretariat
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We launched a website to support the 3rd International Year of the Reef
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(Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Ocean Agency / XL Catlin Seaview Survey)

ICRI 32nd General Meeting
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(Photo Credit: D. Obura (CORDIO))

Science without Borders® Challenge
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International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and UN Environment Grants Programme 2017
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(Photo Credit: XL Catlin Seaview-Survey)

The Third International Year of the Reef (IYOR 2018)
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ICRI News

First meeting of the international coral reef policy advisory committee

The Maison des Oceans in Paris provided the venue of the first meeting of the International Coral Reef Policy Advisory Committee on 19th and 20th June 2018. The committee, comprising of national experts from 11 important coral reef countries and convened by UN Environment, met to analyze and review the methodology for a global and regional analysis of policy instruments and governance mechanisms related to the protection and sustainable management of coral reefs. The analysis was requested by UN Member States through a resolution on sustainable coral reef management of the United Nations Environment Assembly (Resolution 2/12, Paragraph 10).

(Updated on July 10th) - On July 4, 2018, in the presence of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, HE Mrs. Susi Pudjiastuti, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Indonesia), and Dr. Russel Reichelt, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority (Australia), France, represented by Mrs Brune Poirson, Secretary of State to Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, handed over the Presidency of the International Coral Reef Initiative to Monaco, Australia, and Indonesia at a ceremony which took place at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Manama since 24 June, decided Tuesday to remove the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The Committee considered that safeguarding measures taken by the country, notably the introduction of a moratorium on oil exploration in the entire maritime zone of Belize and the strengthening of forestry regulations allowing for better protection of mangroves, warranted the removal of the site from the World Heritage List in Danger.

The site was inscribed on the List in Danger in 2009 due to the destruction of mangroves and marine ecosystems, offshore oil extraction, and the development of non-sustainable building projects.

The 2018 International Year of the Reef is an opportunity for the world’s media to highlight the many threats faced by coral ecosystems and the need to protect them. One of the main challenges faced when implementing coral conservation activities is the financing of it; the funds currently needed to achieve effective and lasting conservation greatly exceed the available funds, generating a substantial financing gap.

The UK has joined a global battle to safeguard the world’s coral reefs from climate change and rising sea temperatures, Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey announced today.

International work to protect these vital marine habitats is gathering momentum as coral reefs come under increasing pressure from climate change and human activity – and today the UK officially joined the Coral Reef Life Declaration, committing to safeguard coral reefs and bolster scientific research into the threats they face.

The announcement comes just one week ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where member states will gather in London to agree further global measures to protect our oceans.

With AIMS’ reef surveys extending over more than 30 years, the AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program provides an invaluable record of change in repeatedly surveyed coral reef communities over a large area of the Great Barrier Reef.

More ICRI News

ICRI Secretariat

The ICRI Secretariat is hosted by ICRI Members on a voluntary basis and rotates every 2 years. Since 2004, the Secretariat has been co-chaired by a developed and a developing country. More.

Our work

ICRI members are encouraged to join forces by joining or participating in ICRI groups in their various forms –these groupings may be geographically or topic-based. These groups contribute to the implementation of ICRI’s objectives at global, regional and local scales. More.