Coral Triangle Day

Coral Triangle Day is held on 9 June, the day after World Oceans Day. The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF), with national committees and partner organisations, launched the first celebration on 9 June 2012.

The Coral Triangle covers the waters of six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. It lies in our own part of the world, Southeast Asia and the western Pacific.

According to CTI-CFF, the region is home to 76 per cent of the world's coral species and more than 2,000 species of reef fish, and it supports the lives and livelihoods of over 120 million people.

Thailand has reefs of its own to care for. Department of Marine and Coastal Resources figures reported in 2022 put Thai coral areas at 149,025 rai, with 280 coral species recorded.

You can help reefs anywhere: do not stand on or touch coral, choose boat operators that tie up to mooring buoys instead of dropping anchor, and leave nothing behind on the beach.

Coral Triangle Day celebrates what the sea builds over time. At AVALON Artisan Gallery, From Waste to Wonder takes green mussel shells, more than 50,000 tonnes of which are discarded in Thailand each year, and builds them into MyraShell and MyraGem.