Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative

Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative (2003; 6 staff; healthyreefs.org)

Healthy coral reefs sustain people, livelihoods, and quality of life.  Healthy Reefs promotes adoption and application of indicators for managers, policy makers and other leaders concerned with the integrity of the Mesoamerican Reef Ecosystem.  It standardizes scientific data to improve reef ecosystem management, and serves as a forum for information sharing and networking among scientists and conservationists.  Partners include the MAR Fund, which is focused on Mesoamerican reef restoration, and the JRS Biodiversity Foundation.

Reef health framework is organized around 16 themes, with 10 indicators used to assess reef health, e.g. abundance of sea urchins. They run ‘Interactive Eco-Audits’ to monitor the reef health.

Publications:

• News, photos, videos, press kits, and reports
• Reef Health Database for the Mesoamerican Reef a database of indicators of reef health with over 600 records, and information for >400 reef sites across the Mesoamerican Reef.
• Maps and data visualizations

Leadership: Melanie McField (Founder, Director)