Chloe Harvey - Reef-World Director
If someone had told me in March exactly what was about to unfold this year, I think I would have hidden in my wardrobe never to emerge again! The situation has forced me to spend the longest period of time away from coral reefs and the communities that live near them since I was introduced to them aged 11 … 25 years ago! I have never felt less physically connected to the ecosystem I have dedicated my life to protecting.
But, as each new challenge faced the world, I have been consistently buoyed by our Reef-World community. From our incredible team who have somehow found inspiration from their remote working locations to get up, log on and battle through every day through to the cascade of diving professionals who have made the most of their free time by completing the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course to advance their knowledge of sustainable diving industry practices. This continues to give me hope and strength to continue in our mission.
As a result of the pandemic we have had to postpone many grassroots conservation activities this year. The result of this has been wide ranging. The Governments of Japan and Guam, representing teams of extremely passionate individuals, were prepped and ready to take on the monumental task of launching Green Fins during 2020. As travel has been neither allowed nor safe, the essential training to enable this has not been possible. But, instead of resting on their laurels, the team in Japan has worked closely with us to build their knowledge remotely; for example, delivering a series of educational study sessions to their local dive centres to prep the industry for the introduction of these environmental standards. We have also worked together on the recently launched Japanese translation and adaptation of the Green Fins materials to help them to promote the Green Fins messaging within their local tourism industry.
Similarly, as the dive industry ground to a halt in Egypt, the Green Fins team there shifted their focus away from national expansion and mass environmental assessments to educational material development and translation. And I’m pleased to say that, as a result, both the Japanese and Arabic Green Fins materials are now officially launched and available on the Green Fins website for free download.
Divers in Egypt
Beyond the incredible divers and businesses who have continued to prioritise the environment, even in these difficult times, our wonderful industry and collaboration partners have also kept sustainable diving well and truly on their agenda. Staying true to aligning corporate wide values with their new strapline “Seek Adventure, Save the Ocean”, big plans are in place to strengthen our collaboration with PADI next year. This will be through a mixed bag of joint communication efforts and the inclusion of Green Fins messaging in the revamping a few of their internal environmental initiatives.
This new, extra-digitally connected world has provided some unique opportunities to share our voice for ocean conscious businesses with a wider audience at a few of the digital dive industry shows. Our partners contributed some incredible lessons during two sessions we delivered at the Scuba.Digital and DEMA dive shows. The session were co-hosted by our wonderful collaboration partners UN Environment Programme and NOAA, and Scuba.Digital, PADI, Paralenz, ZuBlu, Explorer Ventures, Bubbles Dive Resort and Key Dives all shined a spotlight on the amazing efforts they are making to ensure the environment is considered within their business operations. We are extremely grateful to them all for taking the time, having patience with the sometimes clunky technology and so generously sharing their passion and secrets.
Sparkling Red Sea
Being the Director of a small international charity with limited resources and a giant reach comes with daily administrative headaches. What has always kept me going is that I love the part of my job where I get to work with people; helping them to solve environmental challenges and adopt more sustainable ways of living for the protection of our marine world. This is what I thrive on. This year, I have been starved of this key inspiration. 2020 has been a year of sadness and loneliness. Many of us have had to deal with great loss and grief without the human support we so rely on. But this strange new world has forced me to stretch and grow and this can only be a good thing as we enter into a new post pandemic era.
So I want to say a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you from us all on behalf of the Reef-World team: YOU are why we do what we do: why we get up, log on and stay on mission. I feel that we’re going into 2021 with sustainable travel more strongly on the international agenda than ever before. 2020 has been a gigantic stock taking exercise: we know what we need to do, and we know how to do it. So, let’s get on with saving those corals…
SOMBRERO ISLAND REEF PHILIPPINES: JETT BRITNELL / CORAL REEF IMAGE BANK