International holidays - Coral Triangle Day

In the world, the greatest diversity of marine flora and fauna is found in the coastal areas of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands If you connect the extreme points of the reefs of these six countries on a map with lines, you will get a triangle, called Coral in 1988 The largest mangrove forests are located here, and about 3,000 species of fish, whales, dolphins and other flora live in the ocean waters For its biodiversity, the triangle was called the “Amazon of the Seas” More than 120 million people live in the geographical area where 53% of all coral reefs on Earth are concentrated The state of the ecology of the region, located at the junction of the borders of Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, determines the availability of food, employment of the population and its level of income The natural beauty of the Coral region is mesmerizing Thanks to the tourism industry, about $3 billion a year is poured into the countries' economies annually To raise awareness of reef bleaching, declining tuna populations and other environmental issues in the region, Coral Triangle Day was established on June 9th Coral Triangle Day events were held for the first time on June 9, 2012 The celebration, dedicated to the conservation of the marine biodiversity of the Coral Triangle, is celebrated immediately after World Oceans Day Both holidays are united by a common agenda - the protection of the planet's water resources Human activities in the development of nature and climate change negatively affect the state of water in the World Ocean Therefore, Coral Triangle Day calls for thinking about the cleanliness of coastal areas and water, preserving the population of commercial fish, and other unique fauna and flora The natural reserve is home to 6 out of 7 species of sea turtles, 950 species of mollusks, and 458 species of crustaceans The reason for the huge diversity of mammals and fish lies in the strong currents of the Indian and Pacific oceans, which bring nutritious organic matter into the straits between the islands Upwelling, the rise of cold deep-sea species, contributes to the active development of plankton and the reproduction of marine organisms that consume these microorganisms as food The reefs, located at a depth of 4,000 m, are home to algae, shrimp, sea cucumbers and crabs The “Indo-Malay Triangle,” as American biologist John Briggs suggested calling it in 1974, is fraught with many secrets Thus, in 2006, off the coast of New Guinea, an expedition discovered endemics of the region - 50 species of animals and fish unknown to science Scientists suspect that the discoveries will not end there The fauna of the Coral Triangle is threatened with death due to ocean acidification - the penetration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into its thickness The nature reserve's biodiversity is declining due to predatory fishing practices, water pollution by garbage, dredging and the extraction of non-metallic minerals for construction The environment and ecology of the Coral Triangle are negatively impacted by recreational diving Speleothems, mineral deposits accumulated in underground caves, are very fragile, as are some slow-growing tropical reefs Intense dives by divers, harsh weather conditions and diseases damage corals, disrupting the biogeocenosis system These and other problems are raised annually, proposing ways to solve them, by WWF, the Global Environment Facility and other international organizations that participate in events dedicated to Coral Triangle Day