Mangrove conservation can pay for itself in flood protection
The natural coastal defenses provided by mangrove forests reduce annual flooding significantly in critical hotspots around the world. Without mangroves, flood damages would increase by more than $65 billion annually, and 15 million more people would be flooded, according to a new study.
This vanishing forest protects the coasts—and lives—of two countries
Rising waters and illicit logging are killing the trees in the Sundarbans, the natural wall that protects the India-Bangladesh coast.
Pemex is illegally destroying protected mangrove trees to build an $8 billion oil refinery
Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex has defied a government order by cutting down protected mangrove trees for the construction of an oil refinery. Satellite images show a landscape razed presumably to accommodate the controversial $8 billion project.
Environmental damage to coral reefs in South China Sea
New research reveals the unseen environmental damage being done to coral reefs in the hotly contested South China Sea, as China and other nations jostle for control of the disputed sea lanes.
Mangrove forests provide cause for conservation optimism, for now
More than a decade ago, academics warned that mangrove forests were being lost faster than almost any other ecosystem, including coral reefs and tropical rainforests. But things are looking better.
Climate change could kill all of Earth’s coral reefs by 2100, scientists warn
Climate change could destroy almost all of Earth’s coral reef habitats by 2100, according to new research.
Collaborative Conservation Approach for Endangered Reef Fish Yields Dramatic Results
Nassau Grouper populations increased threefold in response to dynamic fishing management actions in the Cayman Islands
Integrating social and ecological science for effective coral reef conservation
While many conservation plans focus on only environmental indicators for success, a new coral reef program is trying a relatively new approach: focusing on both social and ecological processes and outcomes to ensure a long-term future for coral reef systems.
Gulf of Mexico coral reefs to protect from storm surge in the future — But will they?
Coral reefs support 25 percent of all marine life around the globe. Those in the Gulf of Mexico, along the coasts of Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Mexico, serve as important barriers to storm surge, lessening the impact of dangerous hurricanes.