ABSTRACT
Government authorities are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of coral reef ecosystems and of the rapid pace at which coral reefs are dying. Given the large array of local, state, and national initiatives attempting to protect and preserve these ecosystems, this chapter focuses on the primary U.S. laws and international legal instruments that do or may protect coral reefs. This focus in no way diminishes the importance of locally based initiatives, which, in the end, may be the only sustainable approach to ecological problems (Salm et al. 2001, Birkeland 1997). However, given the limitations of one chapter, I have chosen to consider programs with the widest possible application.
