NOAA and its partners have developed a national strategy to guide U.S. coral reef conservation through 2040. The agency’s May 1 announcement describes a coordinated approach to protecting and restoring reefs that support coastal communities, fisheries, shoreline protection, and recreation.
The strategy addresses pressures including pollution, disease, invasive species, fishing impacts, bleaching, and changing ocean chemistry. NOAA describes the effort as broader than the work of any one organization and calls for participation across the conservation community.
Its approach combines research, monitoring, mapping, capacity building, social science, and communication within an adaptive management framework. Six focus areas organize the proposed work. The original announcement links to the strategy itself, which provides the fuller framework for agencies, researchers, and conservation organizations considering how their activities fit into the national effort.