Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle (CT) is a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion.^[3] The Coral Triangle is located between the Pacific and Indian oceans ^[4] and encompasses portions of two biogeographic regions: the Indonesian-Philippines Region, and the Far Southwestern Pacific Region.^[5] As one of eight major coral reef zones in the world,^[6] the Coral Triangle is recognized as a global centre of marine biodiversity^[7] and a global priority for conservation.^[8] Its biological resources make it a global hotspot of marine biodiversity. Known as the "Amazon of the seas" (by analogy to the Amazon rainforest in South America), it covers 5.7 million square kilometres (2,200,000 sq mi) of ocean waters.^[9] It contains more than 76% of the world's shallow-water reef-building coral species, 37% of its reef fish species, 50% of its razor clam species, six out of seven of the world's sea turtle species, and the world's largest mangrove forest.^[4] The epicenter of that coral diversity is found in the Bird’s Head Seascape of Indonesian Papua, which hosts 574 species (95% of the Coral Triangle, and 72% of the world’s total).^[10] In 2014, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported that the gross domestic product of the marine ecosystem in the Coral Triangle is roughly $1.2 trillion per year and provides food to over 120 million people.^[11][4] According to the Coral Triangle Knowledge Network,^[12] the region annually brings in about $3 billion in foreign exchange income from fisheries exports, and another $3 billion from coastal tourism revenues.

The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the region a top priority for marine conservation, and is addressing ecological threats to the region through its Coral Triangle Program,^[13] launched in 2007. The center of biodiversity in the Triangle is the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines.^[14] Coral reef area in the region to have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site are Tubbataha Reef Natural Park in the Philippines ^[15] and Raja Ampat UNESCO Global Geopark in Indonesia.^[16]