MANILA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has committed 63 million U.S. dollars to fund a project, led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for the preservation of Asia's coral reefs in the "Coral Triangle" region, ADB said here on Tuesday.

    Also crowned as "the Amazon of the seas," the Coral Triange is an area crossing Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Solomon Islands.

    However, over-fishing and dynamite fishing have destroyed large areas of coral reef and depleted marine productivity, the bank said, adding that the rising of sea temperatures and the increase of acidity in the oceans, as results of global warming, has hastened the damage.

    It said that the GEF funds will cover activities to preserve the region's coastal and marine ecosystems and develop measures to help the environmentally rich area adapt to climate change.

    ADB also said that it might help GEF funds "catalyze" at least another 425 million dollars in funds to finance the coral preservation project.

    "The reefs of the Coral Triangle underpin fisheries and tourism industries worth over 5 billion dollars annually, and it is heartening to see both the countries and the international community recognizing the need for urgent protective action," said David McCauley, ADB Senior Environmental Economist.