Coral reefs are being destroyed world-wide by fishermen and shell collectors, by developers and above all by direct extraction for building materials. In numbers of plants and animals the coral ecosystem is one of the richest in the world, but it is also extremely fragile. The author, who is Chairman of the Coral Group set up by the IUCN Survival Service and Ecology Commissions, describes the methods used to extract coral and the disastrous effects on the reefs. As a result of the Group's recommendations French Polynesia has decided to stop coral extraction from March 1981.