Reefs at Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the Worlds Coral Reefs (World Resources Institute)
by D. G. Bryant, Lauretta Burke, John McManus, Mark Spalding
Category: Nature

A global assessment of coral reefs at risk from overfishing, coastal development and other human activity. The study finds that nearly 60 per cent of the earth's reefs are threatened by human activity - ranging from coastal development and overfishing to inland and marine pollution - leaving much of the world's marine biodiversity at risk. In addition, the report concludes that while reefs provide billions of people and hundreds of countries with food, tourism revenue, coastal protection and new medications for increasingly drug-resistant diseases, they are among the least monitored and protected natural habitats in the world.