How Do I Help Save Coral Reefs?

Coral reefs are thought to be the worlds largest and one of our most fragile eco systems. It is a well known fact that in the last 30 years nearly 70% of the worlds Coral Reef’s have been lost, which means we desperately need to help conserve and protect what is left.

The last few decades has been devastating for Coral Reef, many have been destroyed through tourism, toxic chemicals, pollution and of course climate change. It is regularly estimated that in the next 30 years there may be no Coral Reef left at all in area’s accessible to us humans, unless of course we change our habits and do something to save our reefs now!

Why should we care about coral reefs?

The video above details just how important Coral Reefs are for life and a healthy prosperous Ocean environment, it is worth watching and only goes for 2.21 minutes.

What can you do to help save Coral Reefs?

There are many ways you can help save the reefs, here are just a few to get you started:

Get involved in conservation efforts	such as, reef clean ups, beach clean ups, volunteer work
Donate to conservation organisations	pay marine park fees, visitor fees etc. PADI Project Aware is a great conservation organisation
Cut down on plastics	especially single use plastics, such as straws, plastic bags, take away containers
Reduce, reuse and recycle	this is the slogan behind the recycle symbol. Make sure the plastic you use has this symbol on it so you know it can be recycled
Dive and snorkel responsibly	do not touch or take anything, control your buoyancy, watch where you are putting your fins and hands, do not crash into, touch or stand on corals. Some corals take hundreds of years to grow, you may think one little kick with the fins is not going to hurt it, but if everyone thought like that then over time that is hundreds of kicks which can do a huge amount of damage.
Take only photos, leave only bubbles	clean up after yourself and take your rubbish away with you, do not leave it on the beaches as it gets washed into the Ocean. Do not take corals as a souvenir, they are living creatures and should be left in their natural environment
Switch to natural beauty and house hold products	the chemicals in all of these eventually end up back in the Oceans
Make smart sea food choices	don’t support seafood industries on countries where over fishing is a problem
Support reef friendly businesses	ask your dive shop, surfing or tour operator about what they do to support to the reef and marine life. Stay in eco-friendly resorts and buy eco-friendly products.
Use reef safe sun cream	Oxybenzone and Octinoxate chemicals in sun cream have such a devastating effect on the corals through coral bleaching, making the easy switch to a Zinc oxide based sun cream is the best way you can help save your reef