A small Mexican town rallied to revive its overfished coral reef. Here’s how

Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, successfully revived its overfished coral reefs through community-led efforts and the establishment of a national park in 1995. This transition from overfishing to a 'no-take' zone led to a 463% increase in fish biomass after 10 years and the creation of an ecotourism sector generating nearly $8 million annually. The success of Cabo Pulmo has informed the 'Marine Prosperity Area' framework, which prioritizes social-ecological prosperity through nine pillars of intervention, and has inspired a proposal to create 10 additional such areas across Mexico by 2030.

• The establishment of the Cabo Pulmo National Park in 1995, which eventually became a 100% 'no-take' zone covering over 70 square kilometres of reef, resulted in a 463% increase in fish biomass after 10 years.
• The restoration of the marine ecosystem in Cabo Pulmo shifted the local economy from fishing to ecotourism, which now generates nearly $8 million annually for the community.
• The Cabo Pulmo experience helped develop the 'Marine Prosperity Area' concept, defined as ocean conservation that "prioritizes social-ecological prosperity" over passive ecosystem recovery. This model relies on nine pillars: community management, community wellbeing, strategic alliances, conservation leadership, strong governance, sustainable funding, collaborative management, effective enforcement, and continuous monitoring.
• Based on the Cabo Pulmo model, there is a proposal to establish 10 additional Marine Prosperity Areas throughout Mexico by the year 2030.

APA

Elliott, D. (2025). A small Mexican town rallied to revive its overfished coral reef. Here’s how. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/community-ocean-conservation/

Chicago

Elliott, David. A small Mexican town rallied to revive its overfished coral reef. Here’s how. World Economic Forum, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/community-ocean-conservation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Elliott |first1=David |title=A small Mexican town rallied to revive its overfished coral reef. Here’s how |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=19 June 2025 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/community-ocean-conservation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{elliott2025small, author = {Elliott, David}, title = {{A small Mexican town rallied to revive its overfished coral reef. Here’s how}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/community-ocean-conservation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }