Coral reefs protect our coasts from storms, provide habitats for diverse marine species and generate billions of dollars for the fishing and tourism industries. Unfortunately, recent mass coral bleaching events have put these spectacular ecosystems at risk.

In this episode, coral taxonomist Dr Zoe Richards discusses the state of coral reefs and how we can best protect them in the future.

• Dr Richards discusses the importance of coral reefs (2.15)
• How can we save coral reefs? (8.16)
• What areas around the world have been the most affected? (11.59)
• Do artificial reefs have a role to play in sustainability? (17.57)

Links

• Curtin University: Central Kimberly reef communities survive global coral bleaching
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority: Outlook Report 2019
• Journal of the International Coral Reef Society: The state of Western Australia’s coral reefs

Farewell Jess!

We want to sincerely thank Jessica for helping make The Future Of what it is, and wish her all the best as she takes some time off to welcome her first child into the world. David will be back next week.

Got any questions, or suggestions for future topics?

Email [email protected].

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Curtin University supports academic freedom of speech. The views expressed in The Future Of podcast may not reflect those of the university.

Music: OKAY by 13ounce Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library

You can read the full transcript for the episode here.