Year in Review: Letter From the Director

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Year in Review: Letter From the Director
2009-01-30 5:57AM / 標準BLOG / 會員可以看
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Year in Review: Letter From the Director
By Reef Check Executive Director Dr. Gregor Hodgson

The 2008 International Year of the Reef has been highly productive for Reef Check. In 1997, Reef Check began as a global science project to train citizen scientists to monitor the health of the world’s reefs. It was not until 2005 that we left the university environment to become an independent non-profit. From an organizational perspective – we are still in a start-up stage, working to build our programs and gain the support of a diverse base of members, donors and corporate sponsors. At times like this when the economy is in decline, I am grateful that our programs can continue because they rely primarily on the work of thousands of volunteers and a few dedicated staff.

With programs in over 90 countries, there are always a lot of Reef Check activities throughout the world. Some key accomplishments for 2008 include:
1) Over 20,000 people from 157 countries (including Moldova and Slovenia!) signed the Declaration of Reef Rights led by the President of Palau, Dr Sylvia Earle and environmentalist Daryl Hannah.
2) A 100 page report published on the first underwater survey of the entire coast of California by citizen scientists.
3) RC Dominican Republic was asked to co-manage La Caleta Marine Park by DR government
4) Government of Jamaica included 31 Reef Check sites in national monitoring program
5) RC Egypt teamed with PERSGA to resurvey 35 sites in six Red Sea countries
6) RC Indonesia launched Marine Management Area at Bondalem village in Buleleng, Bali.
7) RC Maldives documented amazing recovery of local reefs from 1997-98 bleaching event.
8) RC helps to list all reef-building corals on IUCN Red List published in the journal Science.
9) RC presents 10-year data analysis showing recovery of Indo-Pacific reefs at International Coral Reef Symposium.
10) Increased our membership from 6,000 to over 25,000 people.

In addition, Reef Check carried out a major survey of the Mussandam Peninsula, an impressive dive location in Oman, discovering extremely high coral cover and an abundance of endemic fish and corals. (see 2009 EcoExpedition)

As a novice diver in the 1970s, I had the good fortune to dive on reefs throughout the world before overfishing and other impacts damaged them. As we have reported since our first global coral reef survey in 1997, it is now very difficult to find locations such as Mussandam where human impacts are relatively low and the reefs are in excellent condition. As an example, the two species of coral most common in the Caribbean in the 1970s (staghorn and elkhorn) are now on the US Endangered Species List. And yet, the data collected by our volunteer citizen scientists around the world indicate that there is still hope, and that the decline of coral reefs has slowed. Marine Protected Areas are starting to provide benefits and recovery of damaged reefs is possible as evidenced by the Maldives where reefs severely damaged by bleaching in 1998 have now recovered.

If we all work together to raise awareness and protect reefs from human impacts including greenhouse gas buildup, there is still time to save these gorgeous and invaluable ecosystems for our children and grandchildren.

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rottendoubt
留言於2009-01-30 5:29PM [举报]

wow ...in just 30 years we've done that much damage to the coral reefs? =(

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Reef Check

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Founded in 1996 by marine ecologist Dr...
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Founded in 1996 by marine ecologist Dr. Gregor Hodgson, the Reef Check Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conservation of two ecosystems: tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs. With headquarters in Los Angeles and volunteer teams in more than 80 countries, Reef Check works to create partnerships among community volunteers, government agencies, businesses, universities and other non-profits. Reef Check goals are to: educate the public about the value of reef ecosystems and the current crisis affecting marine life; to create a global network of volunteer teams trained in Reef Check's scientific methods who regularly monitor and report on reef health; to facilitate collaboration that produces ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions; and to stimulate local community action to protect remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged reefs worldwide.

In 1997, Reef Check conducted the first-ever global survey of coral reef health that provided scientific confirmation that our coral reefs were in crisis due to over-fishing, illegal fishing, and pollution. The results, published in a scientific journal in 1999, shocked many marine biologists who had not realized the extent of human impacts on reefs. In August 2002, Reef Check released its first five-year report, The Global Coral Reef Crisis – Trends and Solutions, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Based on data collected by thousands of Reef Check volunteer divers in over 80 countries and territories, the report was the first scientific documentation of the dramatic worldwide decline in coral reef health over a five year period. The report concluded that there was virtually no reef in the world that remained untouched by human impacts, such as over fishing, pollution and climate change. Yet the success stories discussed in the report show that, with proper monitoring, management and protection, coral reefs can recover. It is up to us.

Since then, Reef Check's fast-growing network has expanded throughout all tropical seas, and has played a major role in efforts to preserve and sustain reef ecosystems. Reef Check’s approach is to engage partners, especially businesses in a non-confrontational manner to develop mutually beneficial solutions especially the creation of self-funding Marine Protected Areas. In 2005, Reef Check launched its first temperate reef program in California.

Reef Check has received international environmental awards for its work, and is the United Nations' official community-based reef monitoring program.

Reef Check carries out its work through three major programs:

EcoAction Program – an education and certification program for kids to adults who want to learn more about the ocean and take part in protecting reef ecosystems.
Coral Reef Management Program – a coral reef monitoring and management system that focuses on establishing Marine Protected Areas to conserve coral reefs while encouraging sustainable use of surrounding reefs by local residents.
Reef Check California – a volunteer monitoring program for California rocky reefs designed to provide data for managers and to build a conservation constituency among California divers.
Meet our Los Angeles Headquarters Staff

Reef Check - Education – Science – Conservation

Reef Check is an international non-profit organization devoted to the following goals and objectives:

* Educate the public and governments about the value of coral reefs and rocky reef ecosystems and the crisis facing them
Create a global network of volunteer teams, trained and led by scientists, that regularly monitor and report on reef health using a standard method

* Facilitate collaborative use of reef health information by community groups, governments, universities and businesses to design and implement ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions

* Stimulate local action to protect remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged reefs worldwide especially through the creation of Marine Protected Areas.

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