Pacific Year of the Coral Reef 2018-2019

‘Healthy reefs, healthy people - protecting our natural heritage, building our living legacy’

Every decade since 1997, SPREP has celebrated the International Year of the Reef (IYOR) in collaboration with the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI): Pacific Year of the Coral Reefs 1997 (PYOCR ’97) and Pacific Year of the Reefs 2008 (PYOR ’08).

During the 28th SPREP Meeting held in Apia, Samoa from 19-21 September 2017, the 2018 edition was launched regionally by ICRI, with support from France and SPREP.

Coral reefs have been chosen to be SPREP’s thematic focus of the next two years. This year’s Pacific Year of the Coral Reefs 2018 – 2019 (PYOCR 2018 and 2019), is a two year SPREP thematic campaign which aims to strengthen the Pacific’s coral reef network. The outcome of the campaign is to provide our members with a comprehensive inventory of reef data in the region, while improving access to coral reef data to inform for better decision making.

PYOCR English Image

Just as anthropogenic threats to coral health are numerous, the work of SPREP and our partners during this 3rd International Year of the Reef is, as always, being delivered through integration across all of SPREP’s programmes. The PYOCR is led by the Pacific Year of the Coral Reef Coordinator, along with a steering committee of representatives from each of SPREP’s programmes. The PYOCR campaign will involve several other projects in SPREP, plus our regional and international partners to assist in:

Improving coastal management measures
Building resilience of reefs to recover
Reversing local drivers of degradation
Stronger expert and practitioner networks
Educating and bringing awareness into policy and conservation action

As we roll out the Pacific Year of the Coral Reef campaign in 2018 and 2019, we are aiming to set a foundation for ongoing action for conservation and recovery of coral reefs well into the future.

To submit Pacific Year of the Coral Reef news, events, resources or inquiries, please contact the Pacific Year of the Coral Reef Coordinator Akiko Hamada-Ano at [email protected].

Events Calendar

Pacific Year of the Coral Reef Logo

The PYOCR logo has been made available in English and French below. The logo is used to promote PYOCR materials, events and activities. The proper usage of the logo is defined in the PYOCR logo usage guidelines. To translate the logo into Pacific languages, please contact the PYOCR coordinator.