Across Asia: Philippines

Coral reef protection urged

The planet's most diverse marine region is under serious threat and requires urgent protection from companies that can also boost their profits through conservation efforts, officials and environmentalists said yesterday.

The Coral Triangle - a 5.4 million-square-km stretch of ocean straddling six countries - contains 75 percent of the world's coral species, one-third of the Earth's coral reefs, and more than 3,000 species of fish and provides livelihoods for more than 120 million people.