People are just now beginning to understand the plight of the reefs, while the rain forests have been in the public consciousness for a decade or more. Also, we humans feel a closer affinity to land resources, and most of us have walked in a forest. We can imagine its problems. Reefs don't have that advantage. Finally, the rain forests are under stress from direct and definable sources for the most part.
Coral reefs suffer from nearly every human activity, and the impacts are unseen by nearly all.
Reefs are the repositories of mans' errors. Coral coverage and variety vary from reef to reef, and we cannot judge one reef by the realities of another. To understand what nature intended for a particular reef, we should learn to observe the resource itself. The disappearance of fishes and other life from our reefs tells us our reefs are not healthy. Changes in dominant species should serve as a warning.