Venezuela and FAO activate plan to stop the advance of invasive coral affecting the Caribbean Sea

Published at: 23/06/2026 09:32 PM

The Bolivarian Government and specialists from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) activated a plan to stop the advance of an invasive type of coral that threatens marine ecosystems in Venezuela.

The information was provided this Tuesday, June 23, by the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information (MIPPCI), in a press release, in which it explained that a team of Venezuelan scientists and experts was deployed to validate the most effective chemical control methods and protect the Venezuelan coast from coral called "unomia stolofínera “, originally from Indonesia.

He noted that FAO specialists led group tables aimed at collecting proposals from local communities and scientists, without providing further details.

“This synergy seeks to protect the action plan and unify efforts against this biological threat that puts marine biodiversity and fishing activity in the region at risk,” added the Ministry of Communication.

This coral has been silently invading the coast of Venezuela for almost two decades, but its rapid spread has begun to alter human activities such as fishing and tourism, a problem that threatens to spread throughout the Caribbean.

This exotic species, with no natural predators in Caribbean waters, has colonized thousands of cubic meters, so the national government has described it as a “biological pandemic”, since the invader kills stony corals and sets its dark tone on the seabed.

Faced with the phenomenon, the Executive is working to standardize protocols for the control and management of this soft coral, for which it has brought together biologists, ecologists and researchers in general, some of whom have described the situation as an “environmental disaster”.