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MONACO: COMMITTED TO CORAL

The presentation by the International
Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) by H.E. Xavier
Sticker French ambassador for the environ- From July 2018, and until 2020, the Principality of
ment and H.E. Bernard Fautrier, Vice-chair Monaco, Australia and Indonesia are succeeding
and Chief Executive Director of the Prince
Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Minis- France and will co-chair the International Coral Reefs
ter Plenipotentiary responsible for missions Initiative (ICRI), whilst 2018 will be designated as the
with the Ministry of State for matters related
to sustainable development of the co-chai- International Year for Coral Reefs.
ring between Monaco, Australia and In-
donesia.
The ICRI aims to promote understanding and solutions
The showing of the film “Chasing Coral” at a global level to protect coral reefs and related
in the presence of Richard Vevers, founder
and CEO of The Ocean Agency, and inspi- ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass).
ration and actor in the film. This film shows
the beauty and diversity of coral reefs and
their importance to humans. Using surpri- Coral reefs are increasingly faced with wide-scale
sing and shocking images, this film shows bleaching, mainly due to increased temperatures.
the disappearance of corals following blea-
ching of their colonies due to the relentless One of the challenges leading to 2020 will be to
increase in sea temperatures. An increase have a global overview of the condition of these
of 1 to 2°C is enough to cause the death
of an entire ecosystem in just a few days, ecosystems, which have considerable environmental
as if the Amazon rainforest lost 30% of its and socio-economic importance.
surface area in just one month! A film which
encourages action... but rapid action before
the irreversible death of our oceans. This co-chairing was announced during MOW 2018,
during the opening of the photographic exhibition at

the oceanographic Museum of Monaco: “From coral
to the reef: a gem in danger”.