Australia is a founding member of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) — a partnership of nations and organisations working together on coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world.
Australia, through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, last chaired the International Coral Reef Initiative Secretariat with Indonesia and Monaco from 2018 to 2021.
The ICRI Secretariat report of activities 2018-2021 outlines the key activities during this time.
Through the Initiative, we continue to share Australia’s expertise with our key partners from around the globe, to help ensure coral reefs are protected for this generation and generations to come.
We also seek to learn from the experiences of member countries facing similar challenges at local scales.
About the initiative
The International Coral Reef Initiative was founded in 1994 by eight governments: Australia, France, Japan, Jamaica, the Philippines, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
The Initiative now has 90 members, bringing together nations responsible for managing more than 75 per cent of the world’s coral reefs.
Challenges facing coral reefs are not unique to the Great Barrier Reef.
The actions of the Initiative's membership are pivotal in catalysing greater international collaboration on coral reefs and highlighting their importance to biodiversity, environmental sustainability, food security, and social and cultural well-being.
