There are many issues affecting the health of coral reef, and though they are complex, they can be grouped into local and global for management policies. In this section, we well talk about management policies for coral reefs at the local and global scale. With the causes affecting coral reefs better known now, it paves the way for easier determination of suitable and effective strategies.  Policies that support the coral reef protection and management will be discussed with aspect to three categories: governance, regulatory and economic.

The implementation of these management strategies has three primary approaches: centralized, community bases and collaborative management. These are especially evident in Southeast Asia.

A centralized management is a top-down framework, where the power typically lies in one authority, usually the country’s government. A community-based management is the opposite. It follows a bottom-up process, with decisions being made at the local level. Collaborative management can be seen as the in-between; the authority is shared among the concerned stakeholders in the welfare of the reefs, and they usually involve the community, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and universities.

Increasingly, it is recognized that there is no “one size fits all”. No one management approach is suitable for all places or situations.