Coral Triangle

About Coral Triangle:

• The Coral Triangle, often referred to as the ‘Amazon of the seas’, is a huge marine area spanning over 10 million square kilometres.
• It includes countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and the Solomon Islands.
• Significance: This region is home to 76 per cent of the world’s coral species and supports more than 120 million people who rely on its resources for their livelihoods.
• Threats: Unsustainable fishing practices, pollution from coastal development, and climate change-induced coral bleaching pose significant risks to the health and resilience of these ecosystems.

What are Corals?

• Corals are essentially animals, which are sessile, meaning they permanently attach themselves to the ocean floor.
• Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
• The algae provide the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light.
• They use their tiny tentacle-like hands to catch food from the water and sweep into their mouth.
• Each individual coral animal is known as a polyp and it lives in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps that form a ‘colony’.

Q1: What is a symbiotic relationship?

A symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species in which one partner derives a benefit and the other suffers no harm.

News: Coral Triangle at risk: new report highlights fossil fuel threats and impacts on biodiversity and communities