According to the United Nations Environment Program, or UNEP, around 30 percent of the world's coral reefs are already damaged, some irreparably.

CNN: All About: Coral Reefs

Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, made the call during the opening meeting of the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, in Bangkok.

NPR: UN Calls For Clampdown On Illegal Wildlife Trade

Part of the United Nations Environment Programme's China Rural Energy Enterprises Development (CREED) initiative, the program has successful precedents in five African nations -- Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania -- and northeast Brazil.

CNN: 'Green' revolution under way in rural China