Direct use value is the direct use of an environmental asset in production or consumption. In the case of coral reefs, direct uses can be sorted into 2 groups: extractive uses or non-extractive uses.

Extractive uses are benefits that people derive from coral reefs by taking something from the corals. Examples include fishing for food or aquarium fishes and coral, removal of coral for use  in dental and facial constructions and using the carbonate from corals to make cement. These are just some of the examples of the direct uses of corals which benefits humans.

Asian nations have the greatest number of people who fish on reefs. In Philippines, 11% to 29% of the fisheries production is provided by coral reefs. The number of reef fishers in countries like Indonesia, Philippines, India and China are estimated to range between 100,000 to more than 1 million. This indicates the extent of direct extractive uses of coral reefs in being sources of food.

Additionally, coral reefs could hold the medicinal properties to solve many diseases. They are currently the hot spots for the pharmaceutical industry, and dozens of anti-inflammatory and other medical properties in reefs have been identified. For example, AZT, a treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that till now does not have a cure, is being produced using chemicals from a Caribbean reef sponge! There are still so many benefits we can extract from coral reefs.

As for non-extractive uses, these include tourism, swimming and diving activities. In the entire world, there are at least 96 countries that benefit from some form of coral reef tourism. In 23 countries, reef tourism plays a significant part of their GDP, accounting for more than 15%. A study found that coral reefs based tourism and recreation is valued at $9.6 billion globally.  Reefs are also potent tourist attractions in the Southeast Asia and are highly valuable. In Indonesia, the tourism value for reefs was estimated to be high, at US$5, 0000 per ha of reef per year. These values give merely a look into the actual value of the coral reefs. As of yet, we have yet to include in the indirect and non-use values, making the corals more precious and valuable than before.