The Bar Reef is a system of coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s just offshore from Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

's Kalpitiya peninsula. It has the greatest biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

 of any coral reef in the waters around India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and is one of the few pristine coral reef systems in Sri Lanka.

It is a complex of reefs which stretch parallel to the coast from the northern end of the Kalpitiya peninsula to the islands which separate Portugal Bay from the Gulf of Mannar

Gulf of Mannar

The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. It lies between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka. A chain of low islands and reefs known as Adam's Bridge, also called Ramsethu, which includes Mannar Island, separates the...

.
It has high ecological, biological and aesthetic significance, being home to 156 species of coral and 283 species of fish.

The Bar Reef was declared a marine sanctuary

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 in 1992, the area of the reserve being 306.7 square km.

Bar Reef Coastal Resources Management Project

For many years there was hardly any management of the Bar Reef and it was under threat both from natural enemies, (crown-of-thorns starfish

Crown-of-thorns starfish

The crown-of-thorns starfish is a large nocturnal sea star that preys upon coral polyps. The crown-of-thorns receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its body. It is endemic to tropical coral reefs in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean...

, coastal erosion

Coastal erosion

Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land and the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage...

 and sedimentation

Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...

) as well as from human activity.

In 1999, the Asian Development Bank

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia...

 (ADB) decided to fund a Coastal Resources Management Project (CRMP) in Sri Lanka, to establish integrated management of coastal resources in order to improve their sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 by addressing the problems of coastal erosion, pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

, unmanaged fishing, over-exploitation of resources and poverty in the coastal areas.

The Bar Reef was declared part of a Special Management Area (SAM) composed of the northern part of the Kalpitiya peninsula and the islands in Portugal Bay; all areas where human activity impinges directly on the welfare of the reef ecosystem.

The threats to the ecosystem of the Bar Reef were identified as over-exploitation of fish resources (there is an observable decline in the number of fish), unsuitable fishing methods (such as deep purse-seining, which damage the coral and deplete fish resources) and pollution from human activities (prawn farms and agriculture).