Chemicals within reef-associated species may offer new treatments for leukemia, skin cancer, and other tumors. According to one estimate, one-half of all new cancer drug research now focuses on marine organisms. However, such extractive activities are usually damaging to these habitats. Coral reefs offer a wide range of environmental services, some of which are difficult to quantify, but are of enormous importance to nearby inhabitants. More than 100 countries stand to benefit from the recreational value provided by their reefs.
Coral reefs buffer adjacent shorelines from wave action and the impact of storms.
The benefits from this protection are widespread, and range from maintenance of highly productive mangrove fisheries and wetlands to supporting local economies built around ports and harbors, where, as is often the case in the tropics, these are sheltered by nearby reefs. Climate protection . Marine photosynthesizing and shell-forming organisms tie up carbon dioxide that would otherwise intensify global warming. Globally, we estimate almost half a billion people live within 100 kilometers of a coral reef, benefiting from the production and protection these ecosystems provide.