Title: Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970 – 2024
Edited by: Jérémy Wicquart, Laëtitia Mathon, Auriane Petit, Andrea Rivera-Sosa & Melanie McField
Date: 9th December 2025
Institution: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)
Coordination: SPAW-RAC, Healthy Reefs for Healthy People
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59387/BDHF9180
Cite this report: Wicquart, J., Mathon, L., Petit, A., Rivera-Sosa, A., & McField, M. (eds.), 2025. Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970 – 2024. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). DOI: https://doi.org/10.59387/BDHF9180
To cite individual chapters: Authors (year). Chapter title. Wicquart, J., Mathon, L., Petit, A., Rivera-Sosa, A., & McField, M. (eds.), Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970 – 2024. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). DOI: https://doi.org/10.59387/BDHF9180
Copyright Information: Copyright © 2025, Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit services, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose without prior permission in writing.
The publication of this report would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the United Nations through three different projects and initiatives supporting coral reef conservation, marine protected areas, and Caribbean regional cooperation.
First, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) for their invaluable contribution. Resulting from a multi-agency collaboration (UNEP, UNDP, UNCDF), the GFCR is a public-private coalition deploying a range of financial solutions and support for sustainable businesses to improve the resilience of coastal ecosystems, economies, and communities.
Secondly, we would like to express our profound gratitude to the ACP MEAs programme. The ACP MEAs programme is a joint partnership between the European Union, the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, UN Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations which aims at building capacity in 79 countries in Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) to support them fulfil their obligations as parties to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) to tackle the environmental issues they face.
Thirdly, we would like to express our warmest thanks to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project “Implementation of the Strategic Action Program for the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem”. This GEF project is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the executing agency and is implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Through component 3 of the project, aimed at conserving and restoring the quality of coastal and marine ecosystems and greater bilateral cooperation, the UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat is taking action in this regard by strengthening MPA networks in the Wider Caribbean, including the Gulf of Mexico, and contributing to initiatives such as the preparation of this report in collaboration with the SPAW-RAC and the GCRMN Caribbean.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Government of France and the Government of Monaco for their support for the report elaboration and dissemination.
We would like to give our acknowledgements to the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife – Regional Activity Center (SPAW-RAC) for coordinating the production of this report. Their efforts included, among others, organizing numerous videoconference meetings and the in-person GCRMN Caribbean Data Workshop, along with Healthy Reefs for Healthy People, serving as the co-chair of GCRMN Caribbean for the past three years. We warmly thank the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y de Limnología for their generous hospitality in hosting this workshop, held in Puerto Morelos from 1 to 4 October 2024. We are also grateful to the university and Healthy Reefs for Healthy People staff for their assistance in welcoming and supporting participants, and particularly Melina Soto. Special thanks to the Coral Reef Alliance and Dr. Miguel Ángel Zarate for hosting Dr. Andrea Rivera-Sosa at the Laboratorio de Corales Pétreos y Arrecifes Coralinos from the Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) Unidad Chetumal, and the Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (SECIHTI) for their support. Finally, we wish to acknowledge the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Secretariat for their continuous guidance and support throughout the preparation of this report.
This report owes much to the dedicated efforts of all those who have collected data in Caribbean coral reefs over the past decades. We extend our deepest appreciation to these contributors for generously sharing their data, which were instrumental in the development of this report. Their individual contributions are recognized in the Authors’ Contributions section. We are particularly grateful to the many data contributors to the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) Database, and to Patricia Kramer and Lynnette Roth for their kind guidance in the use of this database. We also thank the Reef Check Foundation, and its volunteers who have spent countless hours collecting these data.
We wish to thank all participants of the GCRMN Caribbean Data Workshop, both those who attended in person and those involved in the Data Task Force. We are especially grateful to Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, Erica Towle, Aaron Israel Muñiz-Castillo, Mark Vermeij, Robert Steneck, Aldo Croquer, Patricia Kramer, Jean-Philippe Maréchal, Tyler Smith, and Fabio Quesada-Perez for their valuable advice and insights throughout the preparation of this report.
With thanks to the co-authors of the report:
Andrés Felipe Acosta–Chaparro, Esteban Agudo–Adriani, Gabriela Aguilera Pérez, Andrés B. Alegría, Jahson B. Alemu I, Mary Allen, David Alejandro Alonso–Carvajal, Juan José Alvarado Barrientos, Lorenzo Alvarez–Filip, Robert Anderson, Louise Anderson, Shamwari Anseeuw, Maria G. Aponte, Eric Appeldoorn Sanders, Melissa Arbona Fernández, Jesus Ernesto Arias–Gonzalez, Francisco Arias Isaza, Alfredo Ascanio, Rolf P.M. Bak, Robert Balza, James Beets, Chantale Bégin, Aude Berger, Tadzio Bervoets, Hadrien Bidenbach, Macarena Blanco–Pimentel, Max Bodmer, Mélanie Bon, Clément Bonnardel, Amandine Bordin, Claude Bouchon, Yolande Bouchon–Navaro, Robert Bourne, Leo Brewster, Sophie Brugneaux, Frances Budd, Eleanor Butler, Hansel Caballero–Aragón, Johanna Calle–Triviño, Ruleo Camacho, Shannon Cameron, Lisa Carne, Sophie Carolan, Juan Carlos Carrasco Navas–Parejo, Julien Chalifour, Pedro ChevalierMonteagudo, Dorka Cobian Rojas, Alistair Cole, Michael Colella, Raul Igor, Corrada Wong, Jorge Cortés, Amy Cox, Annabel Cox, Jacque Cresswell, Aldo Croquer, Lizeth Cruz, Monique Curtis, Thomas Dallison, Carlos Daza–Guerra, Didier M. de Bakker, Mareike De Breuyn, Danielle de Kool, Elena de La GuardiaLlansó, Ramón de León, John DeBuysser, Ethan Degner, Michael A. Del Rosario, Gilles Delouche, Michelle M. Dennis, Catherine Desrosiers, Charlotte R. Dromard, Damaris Elizabeth Dueñas, Priscilla Dupont, Alain Duran, Alicia Eck–Nunez, Caren Eckrich, Graham J. Edgar, Peter J. Edmunds, Olivia Eisenbach, Roxana C. Elorriaga, Nuria Estrada Saldívar, Dan Exton, Cindy Fernández–García, Miguel Figuerola Hernández, Graham Forrester, Patrice Francis, Jan Freiwald, Donavon French, Alan M. Friedlander, Victor Galván, Rebecca Garcia–Camps, Joaquin Rodrigo Garza, Solomon Gibson, Ildiko Gilders, David Gilliam, Ana Giro, Diana Isabel Gómez López, Catalina Gómez–Cubillos, Melina R. Gonzáles, Patricia González Díaz, Laëtitia Mathon, Juliett González Méndez, Sergio González–Ferrer, Gretchen Goodbody–Gringley, Renata Goodridge, Sébastien Gréaux, Gabriel Grimsditch, Sergio D. Guendulain–García, Geury Guerrero, Claudia Alejandra Guerrero, Tessa Haanskorf, Andreas Haas, Toby Haddon, Ryan Hannum, Julie Hawkins, Sarah Heidmann, Katalina Henao Orozco, Alex Henderson, James Henkel, Scott Heppell, Ana Carolina Hernández–Oquet, Joan Hernández Albernas, Pilar Herrón, Heidi Hertler, Jenny Hickman, Bert W. Hoeksema, Argel Horton, Alfredo Howard, Shoneé Howell, Alex Hunt, Alwin Hylkema, WalterHynds, Iker Irazabal, Ayumi Izioka,Cecil Jennings, Jack Johnson, Michelle A. Johnston, Amy Jones, Laurent Juhel, Elizabeth Kadison, Mohsen Kayal, Thomas Kemenes van Uden, Kimani Kitson–Walters, Oliver Klokman, Patricia Kramer, Nicole Krampitz, Florian Labadie, Lucie Labbouz, Jean Claude Lalanne, Damaris Landers, Judith Lang, Sophie Le Loc’h, Raoul Lebrave, Hélène Legrand, Marnik Lehwald, Sarah Leinbach, Franciane Lequellec, Sandra Little, Max Louis, Natalie Lubbock, Josianne Mahieu, Jennie Mallela, Jean-Philippe Maréchal, Gloria Marino, Tom Martin, Raphael Martinez, Juan Mate, Croy McCoy, Alexander R. McLeod, Melanie McField, Bryony Meakins, Erik H. Meesters, Daniela Mejia, Sandra Mendoza, Jenny Mihaly, Emy Miyazawa, Ana Molina–Hernández, Courtney Moll, Belkis Carolina Montalván Torres, Luis Miguel Montilla, Judith Morales, Clare Morrall, Amy Morrison, Aaron Israel Muñiz–Castillo, Thaddeus Murdoch, Mylène Musquet, Tamarah Myles, Raúl Navas–Camacho, Sobeida Nazaret Nuñez, Richard S. Nemeth, Gerard Nieuwland, Stephen Nimrod, Ernst Noyons, Maggy Nugues, Marissa Nuttall, Alex O’Brien, Kelly O’Connell, Lizzi Oh, Lauren Olinger, Vincent Oliva, Felipe Ossandon, Hazel Oxenford, Fernando J. Pardo Urrutia, John Everett Parkinson, Rebecca Hamel Pepin, Susana Perera–Valderrama, Helder Perez, Cécile Pérez, Antar M. Pérez–Botello, Esmeralda Perez–Cervantes, Auriane Petit, Maxime Philip, Valeria Pizarro, Pedro Portillo, Julian Prato–Valderrama, Fabio Quesada–Perez, Karl Questel, Melissa Radley, Amanda Ramos Romero, Angela Randazzo Eisemann, Doug Rasher, Chanel Raynor, Bernard Renaudie, Mariana Reyna, Charlie Riddock, Chris Riley, Rodolfo Rioja–Nieto, Andreina Rivera, Andrea Rivera-Sosa, Callum Roberts, Arlene Rodriguez, Claire R. Rosemond, Lynnette Roth, Yann Rousseau, Jasmin Ruan, Miguel Angel Ruiz Zarate, Hannah Rushton, Rob Ruzicka, Joe Ryan, Laura Sánchez–Valencia, Léa Sebesi, Rita I. Sellares–Blasco, Claude Séraline, Paula Sills, Nuno Simoes, Micaela Small, Tyler B. Smith, Struan Robertson Smith, Melina Soto, Robert Steneck, Stephanie Stinson, Sandin Stuart, Rick D. Stuart–Smith, Ella Tabares, Maureen Tejeda Metz, Victor Tersiguel, Rubben Torres, Juliana TorresAcero, Erica K. Towle, Ewan Trégarot, Holly Trew, Sydney Tritschler, Sanne Tuijten, Andreina Valdez–Trinidad, Henri Valles, Matthijs van der Geest, Marijn van der Laan, Alex van der Last, Saskia vanDongen, Juliana Vanegas Gonzalez, Estefany Vargas–Pérez, Maria Vega Rodriguez, Alejandro VegaZepeda, Anna Venema, Alejandra Verde, Mark Vermeij, Angelica Verschragen, Patricia Vicente Castro, Shay Viehman, Maria F. Villalpando, Estrella Villamizar, Julian Walcott, Joseph Weekes, Elizabeth Whiteman, Jérémy Wicquart, Jean Wiener, Ross Williamson, Margaret Wilson, Anaurora Yranzo–Duque, Someira Zambrano, Yamil Zapata, Sven Zea, Calina Zepeda–Centeno, Ainhoa Leon Zubillaga.
The GCRMN produces estimations regarding the status and trends of coral reefs using data acquired by the members of the GCRMN network. The data are collected following Data Sharing Agreements (DSA) with data contributors and as such the GCRMN is not the owner of datasets shared by its members. Therefore, for the “Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970 – 2024” report, the GCRMN is unable to share the raw datasets. However, some members of the GCRMN network and report contributors have made their datasets publicly available. For benthic cover monitoring data, such open access datasets are listed here.
All code used to produce the results and figures presented in the “Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970 – 2024” GCRMN report is openly available on a GitHub repository. This repository allows full reproducibility and transparency of the analyses.
