ImpactAlpha, Sept. 25 – Coral reefs are critical for coastal economies. They’re also the first line of defense in a storm. But rebuilding damaged reefs after a storm is costly. That’s why the idea of coral reef insurance is catching on.
In Mexico, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) worked with the Quintana Roo State Government and other local partners to devise an insurance policy to protect a portion of the Mesoamerican Reef in the Mexican Caribbean. The world’s first such policy, it ensures funding to quickly repair reef damage in the event of a hurricane.
The additional grant from Bank of America, which also supported TNC’s initial reef insurance work, will help the conservation nonprofit study the potential for bringing reef insurance to Florida and Hawaii, with an eye towards having such policies in place by 2022. “We are ready to scale this work,” said TNC’s director of Global Coastal Risk and Resilience Mark Way.
