Coral reef economic value and incentives for coral farming in Solomon Islands

Abstract

This brief was completed as part of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) National Program in the Solomon Islands. The research project, "Economic valuation of coral reefs and development of sustainable financing options in the Solomon Islands" was designed to assess the economic value of coral reefs using the aquarium and curio coral trades as an entry point. Two communities were selected from Central Islands Province, representative of areas with a known history of wild coral harvest for the aquarium and curio trade (referred to collectively in this report as ‘coral trade’ communities) and two from Western Province, representative of those with no known wild coral harvest (referred to as ‘non-coral trade’ communities). All four communities harvested live coral for the production of lime.