Save Mexico's Coral Reefs!

2018 kicks off the third International Year of the Reef!

To celebrate we’ll be continuing our work to protect Latin America’s reefs, taking on new projects to protect the species that depend on them, and campaigning to raise awareness of the threats facing reefs around the world.

Over the past several months, we’ve been hard at work preparing both legal and communications pieces designed to stop the expansion of the Port of Veracruz, which would harm the largest protected reef system in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the legal front, we prepared an amicus brief in support of the case to stop the port expansion, which our partner organization, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, is leading before Mexican courts.

In it, we argue that the government’s approval of the expansion project violates international environmental and human rights law, particularly the human right to a health environment.

The project is being developed without adequate planning or analysis of the risks it would have on the reef system, which is both nationally protected as a park and internationally recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.

It would severely damage the reef, which offers a variety of important services to the people who live nearby, including: climate regulation, protection from storms, and the provision of food. 

Beyond our legal work, we co-produced a documentary short to raise awareness of the threats posed by the port expansion amongst citizens of Mexico and the world.

The documentary, The Battle for the Reefs of Veracruz, explains the details of the expansion project, the harm it would cause, and the ongoing campaign to protect the fragile reef system. It will be released in the next several weeks, so please stay tuned!

Thank you for your continued support of the coral reefs of Mexico, and the world.