With climate change an ever increasing influence on ecosystems around the globe, understanding how ecological communities and human institutions respond to it is crucial in conserving ecosystems like the coral reef. Coral reefs are highly effective canaries of global change. Thriving in the warm waters of the tropics, hard corals respond rapidly to unusual fluctuations in oceanic temperature by bleaching white, a symptom of stress that is caused by the breakdown in the co-operative relationship between coral polyps and microscopic algae called zooxanthallae. If this stress is protracted, coral often die, with sometimes disastrous consequences for the reef and its inhabitants.

In recent times, extensive mass bleaching and coral mortality has been reported from reefs in all tropical oceans, apparently triggered by severe El Niño events. Projections of global warming suggest that these events will become more frequent, calling into question the ability of ecosystems like coral reefs to bounce back from this repeated onslaught. Additionally, it also seriously threatens the ability of local coastal communities to absorb the possible change to the reef resources they depend on. While the next few decades will seriously test the resilience of wildlife and people around coral reefs, it will also be a crucial test of the effectiveness and adequacy of systems we currently have in place for conserving and managing these vibrant ecosystems and the people that live off them.

Nature Conservation Foundation's coral reef programme is dedicated to tackling these issues. Our research is multifaceted, and focuses on understanding the response of coral and other reef organisms to this change, and exploring management strategies in the face of environmental uncertainty. Because the Lakshadweep Islands were among the most severely affected, they are a priority area for us at present. We are actively working towards forging collaborative links with local and international institutions and researchers with an eye to expanding the scope and coverage of this programme.