Major achievements
![]() Winner of the 2005 World Food Prize |
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2005 Tech Museum Awards Laureate
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Outstanding Scientific Support Team 2007, CGIAR
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WorldFish Center’s work has been recognized through a number of awards to our staff and research teams:
WorldFish and partner CGIAR Centers won the 2006 CGIAR Outstanding Scientific Support Team Award for the CG Virtual Library. The CG Vlibrary (http://vlibrary.cgiar.org/) is a single Internet gateway that allows simultaneous searches in the online libraries of the CGIAR Centers as well as more than 160 external databases, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Library of Congress, London School of Economics and AGRIS. Full-text articles from over 4,000 periodicals are also accessible through the CG Vlibrary.
ReefBase is a sophisticated knowledge-management and information system that facilitates global monitoring and management of coral reefs to support broad-based efforts to protect them. For example, in early 2005, shortly after the December 26 tsunami in Southeast Asia, scientists and organizations around the world relied heavily on ReefBase for assessments of environmental damage to coral reefs in the region and impacts on affected coastal communities.
Two-thirds of all reefs are in developing countries, and 500 million people in the tropics depend heavily on reefs for food, livelihoods, protection from natural disasters and other basic needs. In some developing countries, coral-based fish and other marine organisms provide up to 90 percent of all animal protein consumed. For many coastal communities in reef areas, fishing activities are the sole source of income. Globally, the total value of all the goods and services provided by coral reefs is estimated at US$375 million.


