MSC highlights coral reef extinction risk at COP29
The MSC Foundation is supporting valuable new research into coral reef conservation.
It is backing the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, which it says 44% of reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction.
The findings were announced this week at the COP29 UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Speaking alongside IUCN Deputy Director General Stewart Maginnis and other panellists at the Global Corals Update, Daniela Picco, MSC Foundation Executive Director, outlined the Foundation’s support for this global assessment.
The assessment relates to coral species and ecosystems, and incorporating the research into its grant-making and conservation efforts.
“This Global Coral Assessment raises the alarm for urgent collective action to stop the decline of coral reefs worldwide.”
“The MSC Foundation is proud to partner with the IUCN Coral Red List team, who have done an exceptional job collecting the data on the status of the world’s reef-building corals,” she said.
“The IUCN Red List guides our Foundation in making science-based philanthropic decisions, for lasting and impactful conservation efforts that contribute to preserving our planet.”
The research involves the assessment of the conservation status of 892 warm-water reef-building coral species which has revealed a growing risk, it says.
In 2008, when corals were last assessed for the IUCN Red List, one-third were found to be threatened.
The assessment cites climate change and related warming events and severe bleaching events as the main threats to reef-building corals.
The Foundation’s work on the island of Ocean Cay in The Bahamas to grow resilient Critically Endangered Elkhorn Coral species at its open-water nursery gains new importance, MSC Foundation says.
Professor David Smith, MSC Foundation Chief Scientific Advisor, said, “The latest global assessment brings troubling news for corals with more than 340 species now being considered at risk of extinction.”
Much work remains to be done to secure the future of these species and the vital reefs they form.”
The programme builds upon MSC Cruises’ multi-year restoration of Ocean Cay’s marine ecosystem, which began when the company started redeveloping the former sand-mining site in 2015.
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