Dynamite fishing, coral mining, and farm runoff take a toll

To help save the reefs of Sri Lanka, get active with these groups:

Rotary Batticaloa

Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka faces much the same dilemmas as India to its north: Tourism, coral collection, coral mining, and industrial and population growth all threaten its reefs. Since the country's population is increasing and gets about 65 percent of its animal protein from the ocean, reefs here are particularly prone to overfishing—meaning that if reefs are not managed better, famine could result from a fisheries collapse.

The government has been unable to halt traditional coral mining, and while it has established two marine reserves, Bar Reef and Hikkaduwa, it does not manage them. Meanwhile, Hikkaduwa is being touristed to death, smothered in sand and sewage from beachfront hotel development; two-thirds of its coral cover is already gone. In 1997 international conservation groups and local marine biologists, fishermen, and boat and hotel operators took matters into their own hands and banded together to try to save the Hikkaduwa reefs, training workers in reef protection and management and actively trying to remove the algae choking the corals.