The Coral Triangle covers 5.7 million square kilometers of ocean waters in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.  The area is considered as the global center of tropical marine diversity, supporting the highest number of species of coral reef fishes, and turtles. The mangrove forests, coral reefs, and coastal and offshore waters are the most species-rich in the tropics.

These resources are at immediate risk from a range of factors, including the impacts of climate change, over-fishing, unsustainable fishing methods, and land-based sources of pollution.

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Coastal communities in remote areas of the Coral Triangle in Indonesia and the Philippines will receive Asian Development Bank (ADB) support to start small, green businesses that will help preserve one of the most diverse and threatened marine environments in the world.

A $2 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, administered by ADB, will help poor fishing households in Berau District in East Kalimantan, Indonesia and Balabac in Palawan, the Philippines, identify, establish and operate eco-friendly businesses that could potentially include seaweed culture, fish processing, boat transport services and livestock rearing.

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Biodiversity conservation in Vietnam is facing difficulties when the number of threatened species is increasing and their living environment worsening, according to Vietnam's latest National Environment Report 2010 released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Wednesday.

The report said in the 2007 national Red Data Book, 418 species of animals and 464 species of plants were categorized as threatened.

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The Philippine Star

SAMBOUR, Cambodia – An extremely rare soft-shell turtle species has a new, protected home in Cambodia.
The critically endangered Cantor's giant soft-shell turtle is one of the rarest freshwater turtles in the world. Scientists last saw one in the Cambodian wild in 2003, and small numbers have been seen in neighboring Laos, while it appears to have disappeared from Vietnam and Thailand.
U.S.-based Conservation International said it opened the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center on Wednesday in Kratie province, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Phnom Penh.

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Gorillas, the largest of the great apes, are under renewed threat across the Congo Basin from Nigeria to the Albertine Rift: poaching for bushmeat, loss of habitat due to agricultural expansion, degradation of habitat from logging, mining and charcoal production are amongst these threats, in addition to natural epidemics such as ebola and the new risk of diseases passed from humans to gorillas.

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UNEP

Eco-tourism in Palawan, the Philippines is thriving under community-managed conservation initiatives that are also increasing fishermen's catch, and incomes.

ADB

One of the world's most diverse and threatened marine ecosystems - the Coral Triangle - is getting Asian Development Bank (ADB) support to improve management of its rich resources and to provide job alternatives for people living in the coastal communities.

ADB has approved assistance of around $12 million for the Coastal and Marine Resources Management Project. It includes a $1 million grant from ADB's concessional Technical Assistance Special Fund, and $11.2 million in cofinancing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines will provide $3 million in non-cash contributions.

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ADB

"Welcome to Donsol, the home of the gentle giants," Alan Amanse says smiling broadly at us as we awkwardly scramble onto the traditional fishing boat. "We have something must be followed; the rules about whale shark interaction." He's delivered this speech countless times, but says he never tires of seeing newcomers eager faces. Donsol in the province of Sorsogon, Philippines, was once a sleepy fishing village, now it buzzes with excited tourists who flock here for what many later describe as a life changing experience -- swimming with the largest fish in the ocean, the whale shark.

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CNN

The Dominican Republic's coral reefs are vital for tourism, but they are under threat.

CNN

The Spain-UNEP Partnership in Support to conservation activities in Volcán Barú National Park and la Montañona Conservation Area seeks to preserve the integrity of these Protected Areas, which is threatened by communities that live in or around the parks and poach for food, or clear agricultural lands within park borders in order to meet their basic needs.

This short film shows how through this initiative, Improved agricultural practices for fire prevention will help prevent further deforestation & forest degradation.