Healthy Coral Reefs Are Our Responsibility

Coral reefs, created by millions of tiny coral animals, support 1 billion people worldwide by providing seafood, protecting shorelines and boosting economies through local tourism. A quarter of all marine life in the ocean—from the smallest microbes to the largest migratory whales—call coral reefs home at some stage of their lives. Yet coral reefs are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world, due to climate change and human pressures like overfishing, pollution and unsustainable tourism, which damage reefs and make them less resilient.

Learn about coral reefs: Educate yourself about the importance of coral reefs and the threats they face to make informed choices as a visitor. Learn all about reefs at the Reef Resilience Network website.

Choose sustainable tourism operators: Find hotel and dive or snorkel operators with sustainable practices and choose on-reef experiences that prioritize reef conservation and educate visitors on proper reef etiquette. You can also choose operators that help manage marine protected areas, or tours offered by local marine park agencies. Programs like Green Fins can help tourists locate sustainable tourism operators in some areas.

Dive and snorkel responsibly: Maintain good buoyancy and admire reefs from a safe distance. Avoid touching or kicking corals or other marine life—even light contact can damage corals. Being mindful of your fin movements can also help you avoid stirring up sand that can smother corals as well as affect your visibility and overall experience.

Practice reef-friendly boating: Follow local boating regulations and signs to ensure your boat doesn’t come into contact with coral reefs and seagrass beds. Always anchor in areas with a sandy bottom, rather than the reef, to avoid damaging it. If available, anchor your boat to a mooring buoy! Make sure to properly dispose of and contain solid and liquid garbage so that it doesn’t end up in the ocean.

Use reef-safe sunscreen: Check that your sunscreen does not contain harmful chemicals that can damage coral. Common ingredients like oxybenzone and octinoxate are toxic to corals, so choose sunscreens with non-nano zinc oxide as their active ingredient.

Avoid purchasing coral souvenirs or taking marine life from the water: Taking coral fragments, shells or other marine creatures or purchasing them as souvenirs is illegal in many areas and globally is harmful to reef ecosystems.

Eat sustainable seafood: Check that your fish is caught sustainably. Parrotfish and other reef herbivores are particularly important for healthy coral reefs, so try other options! You can use resources like Seafood Watch to get quick information on seafood sustainability.

Do all you can to be an environmentally responsible tourist: Do not litter, choose sustainable options where possible and bring your reusable water bottles and bags to reduce your use of single-use plastics.