Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is an initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation for sustainable development. It provides a collaborative platform among the many different agencies, sectors and countries who are addressing challenges to coastal ecosystem and livelihood issues, to work towards a common goal. MFF builds on a history of coastal management interventions before and after the 2004 tsunami. It focuses on the countries worst-affected by the tsunami; India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. However, MFF also include other countries of the Region that face similar issues, with an overall aim to promote an integrated ocean wide approach to coastal zone management. The initiative uses mangroves as a flagship ecosystem in recognition of the destruction caused to mangroves by the tsunami, but MFF is inclusive of all coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs, estuaries, lagoons, sandy beaches, sea grasses and wetlands. Its long-term management strategy is based on identified needs and priorities for long-term sustainable coastal ecosystem management. MFF seeks to achieve demonstrable results in influencing regional cooperation, national programme support, private sector engagement and community action. This will be achieved using a strategy of generating knowledge, empowering institutions and individuals to promote good governance in coastal ecosystem management. - http://www.mangrovesforthefuture.org/

Coral Reefs and Livelihoods Initiative (CORALI) In 2006 IUCN, Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) and Integrated Marine Management (IMM) joined forces under the collaborative Coral Reefs and Livelihood Initiative (CORALI) to better support livelihood development in coral reef conservation efforts, and to further develop and validate a participatory approach to sustainable livelihood enhancement and diversification in reef dependent communities in South Asia. The main objective of CORALI is to develop a globally applicable approach to Sustainable Livelihoods Enhancement and Diversification (SLED) to empower people to enhance, diversify and improve their livelihoods. CORALI brings together practitioners from different organizations involved in coastal livelihoods work from 6 countries across Asia to share experiences and develop new livelihood diversification and enhancement approaches for coral reef dependent communities. Participating countries are: Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. The CORALI website contains news and information resources that can support agencies in their work with coastal communities. The CORALI website acts as a tool for participants to access information, share ideas and jointly develop new methodologies and approaches to working with their communities to support the goals of poverty reduction and sustainable coral reef resource management for coastal communities. - http://www.coralionline.org/

The International Coral Reef Action Network Established in 2000, is a global network of the worlds leading coral reef management and conservation organizations working together, and with local communities to halt and reverse the decline in health of the worlds coral reefs. ICRAN has links to governments, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs alike and draws on its partners' investments in reef monitoring and management to create strategically linked actions across local, national and global scales. (www.icran.org).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) founded in 1945 leads international efforts to defeat hunger, serving both developed and developing countries. FAO supports developing countries and countries in transition to modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices and ensure good nutrition for all. FAO also serves as a knowledge network having expertise on a variety of areas in Science such as agronomy, forestry, fisheries and livestock development, nutrition, social science, economics, statistics and other professions. FAO use this expertise to analyse and disseminate data that aid development. FAO also publish hundreds of newsletters, reports and books, distributes several magazines, create numerous CD-ROMS and host dozens of electronic fora. FAO lends its years of experience to member countries in devising agricultural policy, supporting planning, drafting effective legislation and creating national strategies to achieve rural development and hunger alleviation goals. FAO mobilizes and manages millions of dollars provided by industrialized countries, development banks and other sources to make sure the projects achieve their goals. FAO provides the technical know-how and in a few cases is a limited source of funds. In crisis situations, FAO work side-by-side with the World Food Programme and other humanitarian agencies to protect rural livelihoods and help people rebuild their lives.- http://www.fao.org/corp/publications/en/

The IUCN Global Marine Programme (IUCN GMP) is organized under several themes themes. These are Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation, Coastal Livelihoods, Conserving Threatened Species, Energy & Industry, Fisheries & Aquaculture, Managing Marine Invasive Species, and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The work carried out includes coral reef monitoring, increasing and promoting resilience and adaptive capacity in coastal communities, addressing trade in threatened marine species, implementing ecologically sustainable, equitable and efficient energy systems in the marine environment, sustainable aquaculture, policy work to increase international regulations to manage marine species introductions through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity, development of MPA tools and networks.
- http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/marine/marine_resources/index.cfm

IUCN-ARO the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) has been active in the pursuit of sustainable development, protecting life-support systems and enabling the sustainable use and management of coastal and marine resources through intergovernmental, interagency, and multisectoral partnerships. Since its inception in 1994 (Regional Programme on Marine Pollution Prevention and Management for the East Asian Seas Region) the Programme has developed management-related methodologies, techniques, working models and standards to strengthen practical efforts in the field. Today, PEMSEA focuses on the development objective of achieving sustainable use of coastal and marine resources of the east Asia and the development targets of the WSSD Plan of Implementation and the UN Millennium Development Goals through the mobilization of necessary partnerships arrangements, operating mechanisms, intellectual capital, support services and resources http://www.pemsea.org/publications

BMU Coastal information hub Ministry of Environment of Spain, has been providing key support to IUCN’s post-tsunami work. OAPN made available a grant to assist with mangrove rehabilitation in tsunami-affected areas of Sri Lanka and Thailand. The work was concentrated in and around priority protected (PA) areas. Within each country, a key Protected Area site (including its buffer zone and immediate surrounding area) was selected for piloting mangrove restoration activities. In Sri Lanka Kumana (Yala East) National Park was identified as a priority for mangrove restoration, and in Thailand Laemson National Park was selected as a project field site. OAPN has made available a second grant to consolidate and share the lessons learned in the course of carrying out mangrove rehabilitation during the first phase of the project. Sharing of lessons learned across the region will greatly enhance the success of future mangrove rehabilitation work. One of the outcomes of this phase was the development of a searchable database containing details of projects carried out in the region related to coastal ecosystem management after the tsunami and a repository of project documents, guidelines, best practices in integrating environmental concerns into post-tsunami reconstruction efforts. http://iucn.org/about/work/initiatives/about_work_global_ini_mangr/oapn/index.cfm

Protected Areas Learning Network (PALNet) is a web-based interactive service, backed by IUCN and WCPA scientists and practitioners, and partner individuals and organizations, which aims to help protected area managers to access and generate new knowledge and raise their professional capacity by sharing and exchanging field based experience and rapidly developing science. PALNet is a knowledge sharing platform for people working on protected areas. PALNet offers you the opportunity to get a global perspective on protected areas, early warning of emerging challenges and rapid access to tried and tested solutions, practical and immediate advice on which to base actions, innovative approaches to problems and an opportunity to to be able to share experience and learn from others. http://www.parksnet.org

The South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP): Acts as the Secretariat implementing the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) activities for the South Asian Seas Program (SASP). SACEP is based in Sri Lanka and is registered with the United Nations Secretariat as a Multilateral organization in April 2004. SACEP considers that there are many environmental and development challenges common to the countries of the region, and seeks to work in areas where regional cooperation and collective action can add value to member countries and produce better outcomes for the region. SACEP is also an appropriate forum for action on transboundary environmental issues, with well-established links between both government and regional organizations, essential for the coordination of actions (www.sacep.org).

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) plays a key role in a broad range of activities related to the environment, including providing leadership and information to stakeholders on caring for the environment, and facilitating the transfer of knowledge and technology for sustainable development. In order to fulfill this mandate, UNEP offers a wide range of technical guidelines and resources for governments, policy-makers, civil society, private sector and the public at large. The resources produced by UNEP includes technical guidelines, clearing-houses, trainer manuals, databases, CDroms, publications and other useful tools which can be accessed through this link. http://www.unep.org/tools/

The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme, the World’s foremost intergovernmental environment organization, and WCMC 2000, a UK based charity. UNEP-WCMC is an internationally recognized Centre of Excellence for the synthesis, analysis and liberation of global biodiversity knowledge, in support of capacity development and informed decision making. UNEP-WCMC has been addressing marine and coastal biodiversity issues for over 20 years from the polar regions to the tropics, and has consolidated its considerable expertise to form the One Ocean Programme. www.unep-wcmc.org/oneocean/

World Database on Protected Areas Since 1981 UNEP-WCMC has compiled the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), a joint project of UNEP and IUCN, produced by UNEP-WCMC and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN WCPA). The WDPA is the largest assembly of data on the world's terrestrial and marine protected areas. The database holds spatial and attribute information from governments and NGOs on over 120,000 national and international protected areas. Increasingly, the WDPA also holds information on private, community and co-managed reserves. It is also the basis for the UN List responding to the United Nations General Assembly resolution in 1962 to record the status of the world's protected areas. In January 2005 an online and searchable database on marine protected areas, MPAGlobal, was launched as a collaborative effort to improve the marine specific contents of the WDPA. This effort was managed within the Sea Around Us Project, an activity initiated and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and hosted by the University of British Columbia's (UBC) Fisheries Centre. In late 2008, the data improvements made through the MPA Global process were fully re-integrated into the WDPA, which had undertaken a two year process of redesign and redevelopment.

GEF Knowledgebase for Lessons Learned and Best Practices in the Management of Coral Reefs
The WorldFish Centre, with funding from the Global Environment Facility has developed a ‘living’ knowledgebase containing critical information on how to design and implement coral reef management strategies, alongside information and resources on eight high priority issue streams for coral reef management. The knowledgebase is updated quarterly with new lessons and tools and provides a web blog facility for coral reef managers to share their ideas and experiences. Visit http://www.reefbase.org/gefll/