Save the Coral Reefs
PCRF's Internantional Save the Coral Reefs Campaign

Overview

The goals of this campaign are:

1. To inspire in people everywhere a love and respect for coral reefs and their abundant life
2. To reach as many people as possible, of all ages, from all backgrounds, in all parts of the world about the coral reef crisis
3. To encourage action to preserve and protect coral reefs worldwide

To achieve these goals, PCRF is forming strategic alliances with people and organizations interested in or already working to preserve reefs. We will continue to forge alliances for this purpose and encourage collaborative efforts to build a coalition among citizens, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations to achieve better reef resource management, expanded national, regional and international legislation, and ultimately the ratification of a worldwide treaty.

Building Blocks of the Save the Coral Reefs Campaign

The first step in this campaign is to build awareness about the coral reef crisis through educational materials, museum exhibits, film, print media, high profile events and other forms of outreach. To this end, PCRF has developed "Main Messages" which are integrated into every aspect of the campaign. These messages are:

• Earth is an ocean planet
• Coral reefs are the barometer of the ocean's health
• The world's coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate
• A comprehensive baseline map of living coral reefs is urgently needed
• There are solutions to the coral reef crisis
• You Can Make A Difference in Saving Coral Reefs

Coral Reef Curriculum - RV Heraclitus Model

Over the past decade, PCRF has developed an innovative educational program for students aboard the RV Heraclitus. To date, approximately 100 young people from around the world have had the opportunity to participate in the RV Heraclitus' unique and historic voyage to monitor the world's coral reefs. Rotating every nine months, these students:

• Learn how to assess healthy, damaged or endangered reefs
• Learn how to conduct underwater field research
• Make a concrete contribution to the mapping and monitoring of coral reefs using satellite imagery and thereby make a difference in their ecological future
• Gain direct experience in all aspects of seamanship
• Learn how to overcome challenges at sea and cooperate as a team with fellow members from cultures very different from their own
• Discover and interact with local peoples in all the diverse, remote and exotic cultures the RV Heraclitus visits

Using this student program on the RV Heraclitus as a model, PCRF is developing an innovative Coral Reef Curriculum, which not only provides substantive content about the crisis and possible solutions, but also offers concrete ways for individuals to become involved in a global campaign to save coral reefs. The curriculum is intended for use by people of all ages, from all cultures, in schools, community and religious organizations, as well as by activists, scuba divers, snorkelers and other eco-tourism enthusiasts around the world.

Users of the Coral Reef Curriculum will become passengers on an adventure to breathtaking reef locations around the world through a film featuring highlights of PCRF's expedition. These sites include coral reefs off the coasts of: Egypt, Oman, the Maldive Islands, the Seychelle Islands, Kenya, Bali, the Sulawesi Islands, Vietnam and the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

The RV Heraclitus crew will be guides, celebrating the exquisite beauty of coral reefs, while introducing the abundant biodiversity of these underwater gardens and conveying the important role these species play in supporting life in the ocean biome. The crew will also take passengers on dives to destroyed and endangered reefs, in each case explaining the source of the damage, such as: disease, dynamite fishing, bleaching, or algae overgrowth of coral tissue due to pollution from sewage or other sources. The crew will explain the VITAREEF criteria for assessing the health and vitality of any coral reef. Passengers will receive a coded VITAREEF Guide and become empowered to determine the status of any coral reef in the world: whether it is healthy or unhealthy, and if unhealthy, commence the process of determining what the source of the problem might be.

Passengers will also discover that coral reefs are the barometer or indicator ecosystem for the ocean, that they are vanishing and face possible elimination from most areas of the planet by the turn of the next century. Passengers will accompany the RV Heraclitus crew on dives where they are taking transect measurements and recording species content as well as other data critical for creating a map of the world's living coral reefs. Passengers will also learn there is currently no comprehensive baseline map of living coral reefs against which to measure their rate of disappearance, health and vitality over time, just why this is so urgently needed and how a Coral Reef Satellite Mission will make this possible.

By the end of the journey, all passengers will have the opportunity to:

• Develop an appreciation for coral reefs and the critical role they play on planet earth
• Learn about the coral reef crisis
• Participate in coral reef research
• Learn about satellite mapping and monitoring of reefs
• Become coral reef monitors
• Learn about solutions to the coral reef crisis
• Learn how to make a difference by joining an international Save the Coral Reefs campaign

In addition to the film, the Coral Reef Curriculum will contain:

• A 24-page booklet about coral reefs and their endangered status, complete with bibliography and references for further information on the subject
• A 16-page teacher's discussion guide with suggested lesson plans
• A 16-page student workbook
• A laminated VITAREEF ID Guide
• A Save the Coral Reefs color poster showing photos of healthy, barren and endangered reefs

Lively, thought-provoking questions and exercises in the discussion guide and workbook will be tailored to various age groups ranging from: Pre-K through Primary School, to Middle and High School, to Adult. A range of public outreach activities will be suggested to offer users concrete ways to make a difference in the Save the Coral Reefs campaign.

Examples of such activities include:

• Interviewing family members, friends, neighbors, as well as civic and community leaders about coral reefs and the current crisis
• Sponsoring a "teach-in" day about coral reefs at schools, places of worship, or community organizations for parents, civic leaders and the community-at-large
• Conducting letter writing campaigns to community, government and world leaders (sample letters will be included in the workbook) to provide information about the coral reef crisis, the urgent need for a comprehensive baseline map of living coral reefs and satellite mission, as well as call for better management practices, legislation and treaties for their preservation and protection
• Encouraging schools, businesses, and inland water and coastal communities to build Wastewater Gardens
• Promoting "reef-saver" fish and seafood
• Promoting reef safe diving and tourism
• Using the VITAREEF Guide to become a coral reef monitor at sites around the world
• Volunteering time to preserve and protect coral reefs
• Learning more about PCRF's coral reef research and ways to get involved in the Save the Coral Reefs campaign by visiting our web site, www.pcrf.org
• Supporting organizations like PCRF that are working to preserve and protect reefs
• Sponsoring a day on the RV Heraclitus
• Encouraging their communities to host The Coral Reef Crisis: Meeting the Planetary Challenge, an exhibit concept designed for PCRF by a team of leading museum, educational and visitor attraction specialists. An immersive and interactive experience, the exhibit is designed to inform visitors about the coral reef crisis, inspire them to become reef stewards and join the Save the Coral Reefs campaign. A detailed proposal outlining this exhibit is available and currently under consideration by several leading institutions including: the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, the Vienna Museum of Natural History, The Singapore Zoo and AquaFalls, an aquarium under construction in Niagara Falls, New York
• Adopting a coral reef for restoration

For further information contact:

Cynthia Lazaroff
Executive Vice President
16605 Merivale Lane
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Tel: 310-454-5237
Fax: 310-454-2397
cl@pcrf.org