• Fast Company, Friday, February 25, 2011 10:45 AM

A group of environmentalists this week released a report showing that their efforts are doing no good: the death of coral reefs is accelerating, with 75% of coral reefs in danger of further decay.

Celebrity spokespeople and smart PR can raise awareness, but coral reefs don't have big names backing their survival. And they should.

The report, Reefs at Risk Revisited, from D.C.-based World Resources Institute, the UN, Conservation International, and other groups says overfishing, coastal development, and pollution--are the most direct and immediate threats to coral reefs.

Columnist Jenara Nerenberg suggests the report is a wake-up call to environmental NGOs to change their tactics. "Managing oceans" doesn't quite have the same bite as "save a life with a malaria-fighting bed net"--and the malaria cause has attracted the likes of Ashley Judd, Mandy Moore, and Alicia Keys.

"But who's speaking out for the reefs?" she writes. "With their beautiful schools of fish and eye-popping colors, coral reefs are a tangible face for the climate change cause, which, like malaria, will also cause mass human casualties--in the form of food shortage-induced hunger and forced migration."

Read the whole story at Fast Company »