The Coral Triangle
The region is home to 76% of all known coral species and 3,000 species of fish, including commercially valuable yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye tuna that migrate and spawn in these tropical waters. Twentyseven species of marine mammals can be found there, including dolphin, whale, and the endangered dugong. The coasts also provide nesting and foraging grounds for six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles.
Economic Value of Natural Capital
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there are 27 species of marine mammals, including dolphin, whale, and the endangered dugong
One-third of the inhabitants of the Coral Triangle– more than 120 million people– depend directly on local marine and coastal resources for their income, livelihoods, and food security, and fish is a major source of protein in local diets. The total value of international fisheries exports from Coral Triangle countries in 2009 was approximately 1.35 million tons, worth nearly $3.8 billion (Fish Stat Plus 2009). This represents approximately 3.9% of the total value of the year’s global fisheries exports. The region’s tuna industry, one of the largest in the world, is estimated at $1 billion annually, with high-volume exports to Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2009, more than 1.27 million tons of the principal market species of tuna were caught in the waters of the Coral Triangle (Fish Stat Plus 2010). Tuna, along with some other economic species, spend parts of their juvenile stage within the region before migrating to other areas within the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, which provides 11.2% of global fish catch (FAO 2008). Home to 37% of the world’s coral reef fish species and more than half of the coral reef fish species in the Indo-Pacific region, the Coral Triangle also benefits from a lucrative trade in live reef food fish (i.e. - fish captured on coral reefs and sold live for human consumption). In 2009, this trade was valued at more than $800 million annually (WWF, 2009). Representing an even larger economic value, the marine wonders of the Coral Triangle attract tens of millions of visitors who spend major dollars to dive in the regions vast coral reefs or laze on a local beach. The Pacific Asia Travel Association pegs nature-based tourism in Coral Triangle countries at US $12 billion annually, with earnings shared by travel operators, tour guides, hotels, diving operations, and countless other businesses (Pet-Soede et al. 2011).
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