Marine Life & Conservation Blogs
New series: Intro to REEFS GO LIVE with The Central Caribbean Marine Institute – CCMI (Watch Video)
Introduced by Jeff Goodman…
Exploring a coral reef is beyond the experience and possibly dreams of many people, especially younger ones. Seeing and knowing the incredible diversity and complexity of marine life is exciting and enlightening in both vocational and educational ways.
With today’s incredible advances in communication technology, we are now able to communicate ‘live’ with divers underwater from anywhere in the world. The Central Caribbean Marine Institute – CCMI are doing just that!
As our reefs and greater oceans are being stripped of wildlife, it is important that we learn more about these unique habitats and species before they are beyond saving. With CCMI, students are able to talk with marine scientists diving on a coral reef, in real time from anywhere in the word.
Baba Dioum, a Senegalese forestry engineer born in 1937, famously once said: “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.”
Covid -19 is affecting us all and as a result CCMI have told me that at present, they cannot confirm when they will be running more live broadcasts but all the previously run broadcasts are available.
Let me introduce you to CCMI ‘Reefs Go Live’ and over the coming weeks, Scubaverse will be a showing a selection of past programme videos and keeping you up to date for future events.
REEFS GO LIVE
As terrestrial beings, most people are challenged to understand the unique processes of the ocean or even fathom being able to take the plunge and dive below the waves. Among the challenges is that urban, rural and geographically land-locked people perceive the ocean to be a distant place beyond their reach. In addition, scientists are often conducting research on relevant topics at remote locations where it is virtually impossible for the majority of the general public to gain a first-hand experience. This reality creates enormous financial, logistical, physical constraints on bringing people into the field where they can directly explore the ocean.
CCMI’s education team has developed a transformational, interactive education programme using Virtual Live Experiences (VLEs) methods to connect students and the public to real-time coral reef activity, in an informal science setting. Scientists use high tech face masks and streaming computer equipment to deliver live lessons from the underwater and lab environment. Innovative technology enables VLEs to reduce barriers to learning by communicating interactive ‘real-life’ experiences in an informal, scalable science setting.
The project is structured to deliver curriculum-relevant lessons which are currently oriented to the Cayman Islands and UK national science curriculum for students in year 5 and year 6 classrooms, and which can be streamed directly anywhere in the world. This groundbreaking work was piloted in local schools initially and has the potential to become an international project, as students have tuned in from Bermuda, the UK, Peru and the United States.
Do you want your students to be a part of this adventure below the waves? Contact CCMI here and look for the Reefs Go Live videos to be posted here and on CCMI’s YouTube channel.
Visit https://reefresearch.org/what-we-do/education/reefs-go-live/ for more information!
Blogs
Saba’s Plan for a Coral Comeback
Saba has an exciting new initiative to restore its coral reefs. This new project, running from 2024 to 2026, will focus on reviving key species in the island’s underwater ecosystems. With a collaborative team from the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) and Van Hall Larenstein (VHL) University of Applied Sciences, the project aims to restore both corals as well as sea urchins.
This initiative is centered around coral restoration, specifically reviving two essential coral species—staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). By mapping parent colonies and using a technique known as coral gardening, SCF will create and maintain coral nurseries. These corals will eventually be outplanted at key reef sites around Saba to not only expand the number of coral colonies, but also provide essential fish habitat. The project focusses on installing coral nurseries, training staff with the newest techniques and starting with the restoration of key reef sites.
Reef Cleaners to the Rescue
It’s not just corals getting a makeover—this project also shines a spotlight on the essential role of grazers, particularly sea urchins. VHL is leading the charge on cultivating and restocking two key sea urchin species, West Indian sea egg (Tripneustes) and long-spined sea urchin (Diadema), known for their ability to keep algae in check. By removing algae, which are important competitors of corals, they help the coral to thrive. By restoring these “reef cleaners,” Saba’s project will give corals the breathing room they need to grow, setting the stage for a healthier, more balanced marine ecosystem.
From Tiny Urchins to Big Goals
The project will be funded as part of the Dutch Government’s Nature and Environment Policy Plan (NEPP) 2020-2030 for the Caribbean Netherlands, a comprehensive initiative aimed at conserving and restoring the unique natural environments of the Dutch Caribbean islands, including Saba, St. Eustatius, and Bonaire. This project is aiming for big milestones: build and maintaining coral nurseries, the expansion of urchin cultivation facilities, and the creation of a dedicated research center. By 2026, the project hopes to ramp up coral and grazer restoration, with the ultimate goal of extending these efforts across the Dutch Caribbean. By linking local initiatives to broader regional goals, Saba’s restoration project promises to leave a lasting impact on both the environment and the community.
Find out more about the DCNA at dcnanature.org.
Blogs
Reef-World marks two decades of marine conservation: strengthening impact amid coral reef threats
Empowering ocean stakeholders to tackle future challenges and ensure the survival of coral reefs and humanity
2024 marks the 20th Anniversary of The Reef-World Foundation’s tireless efforts for global coral reef conservation. The UK charity is the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative, known as the leading voice in sustainable marine tourism. Today, Reef-World released its 2023-2024 Impact Report outlining a year of substantive growth and impact in its marine conservation programmes.
Impact Report Highlights:
- Impressive improvements in environmental behaviours to protect coral reefs by the marine tourism industry as the global participation of Green Fins increases.
- Continued capacity building for government and NGO staff to effectively manage marine tourism activities in Asia, Caribbean and Red Sea regions.
- For the first time in Green Fins’ 20-year history, tourism operators have achieved ‘Best Environmental Performer’ status by demonstrating the lowest possible environmental impact in their environmental assessments. In 2024, three dive operators achieved this challenging milestone.
- Significant increases in global participation of Reef-World’s innovative digital conservation tools.
- 138 Green Fins dive operator members achieved the strict threshold for PADI Eco Center recognition.
- Developed four new educational materials and translated two into 16 languages to support the marine tourism industry in achieving sustainability targets.
- Establishing a new Reef-World Development strategy and recruiting new roles – Development and Programmes Managers.
- Reef-World’s board welcomes new Chair and Trustees strengthening organisational leadership.
Reef-World started as a one-person mission to inspire and empower communities to act in conserving and sustainably developing coral reefs and related ecosystems. Today, the team of 12 continues to meet this mission by inspiring and empowering the global marine tourism community to be exemplary sustainability leaders by using the Green Fins guidelines and tools to simultaneously use and protect the world’s precious reefs.
In April 2024, the fourth global coral reef bleaching event was confirmed. Reef-World’s work has never been more urgent as the marine environment, and the benefits they provide humanity, continue to be eroded by global threats. The reduction of local threats, like those from the marine tourism industry, is an essential step to ensuring a future where coral reefs survive and continue to support the millions of people who depend on their ecosystem benefits. Reef-World’s work buys time for coral reefs and related ecosystems to be resilient to the impacts of global threats.
“Right now our corals are facing the greatest fight of their existence as the terrifying predictions of the steps towards their complete extinction are starting to come true. But all is not lost, reefs are resilient and they have existed on this planet for millions of years. We must take action now, to buy time for reefs by reducing threats facing them and allowing them to react and adjust to the changing environment they need to survive in.” – Chloe Harvey, Executive Director
Looking Forwards:
Like coral reefs, the Reef-World team needs to be resilient in the face of the complex challenges of the conservation sector. Reef-World has invested significantly in developing a Culture of Care to ensure the well-being of its team on a daily basis, continuing to be an exemplary employer to enable its team to best achieve the mission for coral reef conservation.
With the foundations of a Culture of Care and organisational development laid, Reef-World is emerging from the end of a natural organisation life cycle, that brings the challenges of growth and scale, stronger than ever. With a new strategy in place to generate much needed resources, Reef-World is excited for the opportunities to leap forward, continue to scale our impact and lean into new innovations and untapped opportunities for marine conservation.
We continually strive to become a forward-thinking organisation that delivers on our goals and commitments to our stakeholders with fresh approaches and not being afraid of steering away from a “normal approach.” This approach is not only applied to our programmes of work but also internally and carries over to our Culture of Care for our team.” — JJ Harvey, Operations Director
The Reef-World Foundation is immensely grateful for the continued support of its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IUCN’s Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, PADI Aware Foundation, and World Nomads Footprints Program.
Reef-World would also like to express its gratitude to international partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for our work and mission: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; Seven Dragons; DiveAssure and Eco Beach, without whom these achievements would not be possible.
The full 2023–2024 Annual Impact Report is available on Reef-World’s website.
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