Meaningful community-based conservation requires consensus-building and collaboration. All too often, redundant efforts and lack of communication result in conflict or lost conservation opportunities.

How CORAL Builds Alliances and Partnerships

As a neutral outsider with a global perspective supported by the expertise of our program centers, CORAL successfully brokers conservation partnerships across diverse stakeholders, defining a process whereby communities work together to save their own reefs. This inclusive approach has resulted in unprecedented collaboration between businesses, resource managers, local communities, government agencies, and other local and international non-governmental organizations. A few of our recent successes are detailed below.

  • CORAL collaborated with stakeholders throughout the marine tourism industry and across three countries in Mesoamerica to develop the ICRAN MAR Voluntary Standards for Marine Recreation in the Mesoamerican Reef System: Scuba Diving Services, Snorkeling Services, and Recreational Boat Operations, the first set of collaborative voluntary standards of its kind.
  • Based on the success of the Mesoamerican Reef voluntary standards development process, CORAL was invited by the State of Hawaii to facilitate a similar process on the islands of Maui and Hawaii. CORAL's collaborative process generated consensus among industry, government, community, and non-governmental organizations regarding sustainable industry standards for scuba, snorkeling, boat operations, kayaking, and wildlife interactions.
  • In partnership with Fiji’s Namena Marine Reserve recreation providers and the Kubulau Management Resource Committee, CORAL established an effective and transparent user fee system.

In this manner, CORAL embodies its motto—working together to keep coral reefs alive—and connects its members directly to the people, places, and projects that are saving reefs today.