Sunlight provides a dramatic backdrop to a common sea fan. Like all corals, sea fans (Gorgonia ventalina) are made up of tiny animals, called polyps, which live together in a colony. They are so fragile that a single touch can damage tissues and make the animals susceptible to attack from disease and invasive organisms.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, a multidisciplinary team of conservationists, photojournalists, and new media specialists documented and explored the Belizean Barrier Reef Reserve System. Representatives from EarthWild International, University of California (Berkeley), Nationalgeographic.com, Belize Audubon, and the Wildlife Conservation Society examined universal challenges to conservation and sustainable development and celebrated successes in the preservation of our common natural heritage.

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