​Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse marine habitats in the world, host to an extraordinary variety of plants and animals. They are also one of the world's most fragile and endangered ecosystems. The growth of tourism, combined with the boom in popularity of scuba diving, has brought these spectacular ecosystems to public attention around the planet.

Coral reefs provide essential fish habitat, support endangered and threatened species, and harbor protected marine mammals and turtles. They are a significant source of food, provide income an employment through tourism and marine recreation, and offer countless other benefits to humans, including supplying compounds for pharmaceutical development. Yet coral reefs around the world are rapidly being degraded by human activities such as overfishing, coastal development, and the introduction of sewage, fertilizer, and sediment. And because corals are highly sensitive to changes in water temperature, they are particularly vulnerable to climate change.

The World Atlas of Coral Reefs provides the first detailed and definitive account of the state of our planet's coral reefs. With its wealth of authoritative and up-to-date information, the finest maps available, and its detailed descriptive texts and images by leading experts, this full-color volume will be a critical resource for everyone interested in these vital environments. 

The World Atlas of Coral Reefs contains 85 full-page, newly researched and drawn color maps, more than 200 color photographs illustrating reefs and reef animals, and 85 images of coral reefs from space, taken by NASA astronauts from the space shuttle flights, including those in 2000 and 2001. The authors provide a wealth of information on the geography, biodiversity, and human uses of coral reefs as well as details about the threats to their existence. 

Prepared by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, UK, the United Nations office responsible for providing authoritative information on the condition of global biodiversity, the World Atlas will be welcomed by all coral reef enthusiasts and divers and will serve as a critical tool for scientists, students, policy makers, and planners at local, national, and international levels alike.