{"id":9265,"date":"2018-02-07T16:16:26","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T16:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/?p=9265"},"modified":"2019-03-22T15:41:50","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T15:41:50","slug":"international-year-reef-2018-year-get-involved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/international-year-reef-2018-year-get-involved\/","title":{"rendered":"International Year of the Reef: why 2018 is the year to get involved!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For those of you not already aware, the <\/span>International Coral Reef Initiative<\/span><\/a> (ICRI) has declared 2018 as the <\/span>third International Year of the Reef (IYOR)<\/span><\/a>. This decision was made in response to the increasing <\/span>global threats on coral reefs<\/span><\/a>, and in recognition that public awareness is an essential element of coral reef conservation. Many things have changed between today and the last IYOR ten years ago, but the importance of coral reef habitats and their vulnerability have not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Healthy coral reefs provide spawning, nursery, refuge and feeding areas to a huge variety of marine organisms, and its not just wildlife that they benefit either. The global net worth of the coastal protection from storms that coral reefs provide is an estimated $9 billion per year! They are also integral to the livelihoods and food security of small-scale fishing communities across the tropics.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Coral reefs are vitally important for humans too | Photo: Garth Cripps<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Bleaching: The Ocean Agency \/ XLCSS<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\"Palau:

Palau: The Ocean Agency \/ Christophe Bailhache<\/p><\/div>\n

IYOR 2018 has four main goals: <\/span><\/p>\n