The Transect Line – December 2008 |
Unfortunately, charities are being particularly hard hit by the financial crisis. If each of you can donate even a small amount such as $10, we can continue to reverse the global decline of coral reefs and to support citizen science in California so that future generations may have the benefit of experiencing these natural wonders. Please consider a year end donation to help us to continue to support our volunteers. Thank you for considering our request, and we look forward to working with you to support reefs in 2009! |
Year In Review: Letter From The Director |
With programs in over 90 countries and territories, there are always a lot of Reef Check activities throughout the world. Some key accomplishments for 2008 include: 1) Nearly 25,000 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. In addition, Reef Check carried out a major survey of the Musandam 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 Musandam 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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Reef Check California Update |
![]() By Reef Check California Director of Science Cyndi Dawson With the colder than normal weather up and down the state, Reef Check California Divers are happy to be taking a break from the water and enjoying the holidays. THE FINAL NUMBERS ARE IN…in 2008, RCCA Divers completed 73 surveys at 60 sites. In three short years RCCA divers have completed over 6000 transects and recorded over 50,000 fishes, 60,000 invertebrates, and 30,000 algae. RCCA had over 170 individual divers take action to improve marine management in California and take part in a RCCA survey in 2008. We will be posting an end of the year summary on the website soon with all the final numbers and data summaries, so stay tuned. The winter season allows RCCA staff to focus on building the program from the inside out and continuing to ensure we have a strong infrastructure to assist our divers and supporters. One of the big projects we will be undertaking this winter is to create a detailed site description web page for all RCCA survey sites. These pages will have information about how to conduct a survey at each site, including information on transect layout and other important information. We also will be putting the final touches on NED (Nearshore Ecosystem Database) and improving our training materials. Another focus will be to develop opportunities for non-divers to get involved with RCCA. We continue to be on the front lines of improving marine management in California and we need your continued support! So if you aren’t a member join us and if you are a diver, sign up for a training in 2009! |
International Year of the Reef Update |
Reef Check and IYOR efforts in the Persian Gulf continue to grow stronger thanks to the efforts of Marine Bio |
Reef Check Teams in Action |
Reef Check Réunion Holds Ecosurf Festival
During IYOR 2008, Reef Check Réunion doubled its number of survey sites from 5 to 10. With the partnership of the Quiksilver Foundation, Reef Check Réunion continued monitoring the barrier reefs of l’Hermitage, Saint Leu and Etang Salé for the fifth consecutive year. Also, an Ecosurf Festival was organized with the Saint Leu Surf Club, the first surf competition to be run entirely with renewable energies and with a real waste management plan. Reef Check Réunion was a partner of the event. A new partnership with the Crédit Agricole Réunion helped develop valuable communication tools: the French website http://reefcheck.fr and a stand designed to raise awareness with posters, streamers, etc. Three new sites on Saint Gilles reef were also created with their help. Reef Check Réunion will continue its expansion in 2009. Reef Check Réunion expects to add ten new sites with the help of the local authorities in Saint Paul and Saint Leu, which are engaged in a Blue Flag process. Reef Check Ré |
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Reef Check Hawai`i Looks To Expand To Molokai
After a year of development with our partners at the Department of Aquatic Resources, Local Action Strategy Climate Change and Marine Disease, and the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology, our “Eyes of the Reef” network prepares to launch. The island-wide network of reef users will report sightings of coral bleaching, disease, and Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star outbreaks. Upon final negotiations with our anticipated partners, Malama Kai and DAR Local Action Strategy: Aquatic Invasive Species, the network will also report incidents of marine invasive species. The network is the first tier of a rapid response protocol developed by the Department of Aquatic Resources, LAS Climate Change and Marine Disease. Reef Check Hawai`i is grateful to have been recently awarded a grant from PADI AWARE to fund our “Eye |
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Reef Check Australia Releases Annual Report
Since its inception, Reef Check Australia has founded a number of successful coral reef • the Great Barrier Reef Project; In addition, Reef Check Australia has developed an innovative education program for young people called Reef IQ which is aimed at tackling the causes of our environmental problems. Also, they have commenced an Indigenous Community Engagement project on Palm Island that aims to provide an important catalyst to enable community-based coral reef management and potential employment opportunities based on the sustainable use and management of the marine environment. Reef Check Australia also plans to launch the newly developed global Reef Check EcoAction Program which provides Click here to download a PDF of the report. Visit www.reefcheckaustralia.org for more information. |
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Reef Check Thailand Reaches Out To Shanghai by Suchana Apple Chavanich ![]() |
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Reef Check Indonesia “Let's Do The Right Thing” by Naneng Setiasih
Education and Awareness: Reef Check Indonesia also launched two websites this year: Goblue, a public webportal about marine conservation, and Mycleanreef, to promote a clean reef through individual solid waste management. Both websites are in Bahasa, the national language. |
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PERSGA Forges Ahead by Dr. Mohammed M. A. Kotb
Through establishing the regular process for integrated assessment of the state of the marine environment last year, PERSGA achieved major progress in knowledge-based management. In addition to the 1st SOMER (State of the Marine Environment Report – RSGA) produced in late 2006, PERSGA has recently produced three new issues in its Technical Series and several other manuals and guidebooks. In order to evaluate and monitor the status of marine habitats and biodiversity within the RSGA, surveys must be undertaken that are comparable in extent, nature, detail and output. Standardizing survey methodology within the region is essential to allow valid comparison of data, and for the formulation of conservation efforts that are regionally applicable. A regional survey guideline – “Standard Survey Methods for Key Habitats and Key Species in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden” – was prepared by PERSGA during 2001 and published in 2004. The regional standard survey methods guideline adopted Reef Check methodology as one of the coral reef survey methods, in addition to life-form and video belt methods. This set of methods provides a range of options in terms of logistic |
Saving The World One T-Shirt At A Time |
Amanda and Angela are happy to say Reef Check is one of their top sellers- “it is very exciting for us to know we are helping protect reefs worldwide and contributing to stop the endangerment of reefs.” If you would like more information, you can email them at savetheworldt@yahoo.com. Their website is currently under constructio |
New Reef Check EcoExpeditions For 2009 |
![]() Puerto Galera, Philippines NEW |