The world's coral reefs are vitally important for their biodiversity value, including the large range of goods and services that they provide to people who have few alternative resources available. Coral reefs support 10% of the world's fishing harvest, provide vital coastal protection, and harbour a third of the world's marine species.

Yet, as this volume makes clear, coral reefs and the livelihoods they support are under grave threat from a range of competing pressures. These include coastal development, unsustainable fishing practices, pollution, the growth of tourism and the consequences of climate change. These pressures threaten around half of the world's reefs.

The United Kingdom has a particular responsibility towards helping to solve the problems facing the world's coral reefs. Through our Overseas Territories, we are ranked 12th among the world's nations for tropical reefs under our jurisdiction. Furthermore, recent research has shown that we also have significant areas of cold-water reefs off our shores, which harbour unique species assemblages that are under threat, principally from fishing trawlers. The UK has used the Common Fisheries Policy to protect cold-water corals such as the Darwin Mounds.

Coral reef conservation is also a key part of our wider international agenda, which seeks to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction while safeguarding the biodiversity that is crucial to people around the world. The recent report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Turning the Tide, underlines ongoing degeneration of the marine environment. The sustainable management of our seas is an enormous environmental challenge.