Coral Reefs at Risk of Collapse | IUCN Global RLE Assessment

“Our assessment shows that much of the risk is driven by projected change that has not yet fully materialised, and that the window to scale up conservation and climate efforts to avoid catastrophe is critically narrow. Coral reefs have shown a remarkable ability to bounce back from devastating bleaching events, but we must do everything within our reach to set them up for success.’’ – Dr Mishal Gudka, Research Director at CORDIO East Africa and scientific lead of the global IUCN Red List of Coral Reef Ecosystems assessment.

Critically Endangered is the most severe threatened category on the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, indicating an extremely high risk of collapse; it does not mean an ecosystem has already collapsed.

A coral reef ecosystem collapses when it loses the defining features that make it a functioning reef. Reef-building hard corals largely disappear, and algae, rubble and sponges take over. A once-complex, living habitat becomes impoverished and can no longer sustain the same diversity of marine life, with consequences throughout the food web—from invertebrates and reef fish to sea turtles and large predators such as sharks and groupers.

For the Nairobi Convention and its Contracting Parties, the findings reinforce the need to advocate for ambitious global emissions reductions and to keep any overshoot of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit as small as possible.

Within the region, governments can improve reefs’ prospects by reducing land-based pollution and sedimentation, strengthening fisheries governance, and supporting no-take zones and community-managed areas. Where they meet the relevant criteria, other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) can contribute to countries’ commitments under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to conserve and effectively manage at least 30% of marine and coastal areas by 2030.

These efforts should include substantial investment in vulnerable coastal communities so that adaptation, conservation and the benefits of healthier coastal ecosystems are inclusive and equitable.

“Effective conservation can still make a real difference by easing local pressures, expanding marine protections and restoring key fish stocks. Protecting reefs and the benefits they provide is critical for people and biodiversity.”- Professor Emily Nicholson, IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Thematic Group Lead and University of Melbourne Professor in Conservation Biology.