Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Providing science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health
Matangi Tonga October 20, 2020 Palau’s reefs had the highest coral cover observed on the Global Reef Expedition—says the latest report from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, undertaking the largest coral reef survey and mapping expedition in history. …
Guam Pacific Daily News USA Today Network October 24, 2020 Researchers discovered Palau’s reefs have among the highest amount of live coral across ecosystems worldwide, according to the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. Over the course of …
International Coral Reef Institute (ICRI) Monitoring News October 21, 2020 The latest report from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation finds Palau’s reefs had the highest coral cover observed on the Global Reef Expedition—the largest coral reef survey …
SevenSeas Magazine By Liz Thompson and Renée Carlton Issue 62, July 2020 Scientists on the Global Reef Expedition explored New Caledonia’s remote coral reefs, some for the first time. In the South Pacific Ocean, at the edge of the Coral …
Phys.org June 29, 2020 Scientists at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) have published a report on the status of coral reefs in the Solomon Islands. Released today, the Global Reef Expedition: Solomon Islands Final Report …
Solomon Times by Georgina Kekea July 1, 2020 Solomon Islands boasts some of the richest fishing grounds in the Western and Central Pacific basin. This provides much needed income for the government and an important source of protein for coastal …
Earth.com by Chrissy Sexton June 2, 2020 Survey of the State of Coral Reefs in the Solomon Islands A report from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) is providing new hope for the future of the world’s …
MarineLink by Alexandra Dempsey April 16, 2020 Assessing the health of coral reefs in the Kingdom of Tonga Healthy coral reefs provide critical ecosystem services for millions of people globally, but with climate change and anthropogenic stressors, the landscape of …
For thousands of years, Palauans have practiced “bul,” which is a traditional method of ecosystem conservation. In this practice, coastal communities will close areas to fishing and prohibit access for a designated amount of time, though not indefinitely. This traditional practice has become the basis for a large network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Palau. Most marine conservation efforts in Palau are led by individual states, which established their first internationally recognized marine conservation area as far back as the 1950s. Since then, many states have established MPAs and the national government of Palau has implemented large scale MPAs offshore, protecting 80% of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from commercial fishing.
On our Global Reef Expedition mission to Palau in January 2015, our team of scientists surveyed 85 different coral reefs, stretching from Angaur in the south, through the majestic reefs of the Rock Islands UNESCO World Heritage Site, all the way to Kayangel Atoll and Ngeruangel Reef in the north. The team explored barrier reefs, atolls, fringing reefs, reef channels, back reef environments and lagoonal patch reefs assessing the community dynamics and health of corals, fish and other benthic organisms.
Perhaps one of the more striking takeaways from this mission was the incredible coral cover and diversity. Palau boasted over 40% live coral cover across all sites surveyed—the highest overall average live cover observed on the Global Reef Expedition. To put that number into perspective, when the GRE visited reefs in Fiji we recorded an average of just over 30% live coral cover. Even when compared to other locations that are well known coral hot spots, like French Polynesia and areas of the Great Barrier Reef, Palau’s live coral cover still appears to be unrivaled.
