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In most tropical countries, coral reef ecosystems provide coastal populations with a number of goods and services. However, a variety of anthropogenic practices threatens reef health and therefore jeopardizes the benefits flowing from these goods and services. These threats range from local pollution, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices and coral mining, to global issues such as coral bleaching. By “getting some of the numbers on the table”, economic valuation can help shed light on the importance of the goods and services and show the costs of inaction in the face of threats. Creating markets for sustainable resource use can highlight the value of these goods and services to local populations

This publication is an outcome of the "Internatinoal Consultative Workshop for Economic Valuation and Policy Priorities for Sustainable Management of Coral Reefs" held at the WorldFish Center's Headquarters in Penang, Malaysia over the period 8-10 December 2001.|The overall goal of the workshop was to identify future directions for economic and policy research relevant to the sustainable management of coral reefs. This publication contains the workshop's overview of current issues and problems in coral reef mangement. It also includes keynote papers, and case studies of the economic valuation and socioeconomics of coral reefs and of policy instruments and management techniques for coral reefs and marine resources. The final section of this publication consists of the workshop participants recommendations for future research.

The Pacific Islands are a diverse group of countries with a total population of 6.9 million people who share common features such as nearly all of the countries have relatively small populations and therefore limited domestic markets; most of the countries rely on their agricultural and fisheries and other natural resources for food, employment and exports; there is only limited manufacturing in most of the countries and nearly all dependent on imports for most of their production inputs and consumer products (including processed foods).