Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2020

The report, a flagship product of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), pays special attention to increasingly frequent mass global coral bleaching events, the first of which occurred in 1998, documentings the loss of approximately 14 percent of the world’s coral since 2009.

Coral reefs occur in more than 100 countries and territories and whilst they cover only 0.2% of the seafloor, they support at least 25% of marine species and underpin the safety, coastal protection, well being, food and economic security of hundreds of millions of people.

However, coral reefs are among the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet to anthropogenic pressures, including global threats from climate change and ocean acidification, and local impacts from land-based pollution such as input of nutrients and sediments from agriculture, marine pollution, and overfishing and destructive fishing practices.